Invasion: the deadliest threat
by jediavatar
Summary: What if the Yuuzhan Vong had invaded the galaxy early, during the height of the clone wars? How would the Separatists and Republic react? AU, T because I'm paranoid and because of violence in later chapters. No prior knowledge of the Yuuzhan Vong is required to understand the story. My first fanfic.
1. Chapter 1

So this is a what-if story about what would happen if the Yuuzhan Vong had invaded early, during the midst of the fighting between the republic and the Separatists. Of course, I don't own any of it. A few characters were created by me, but George Lucas owns the Star Wars universe. I'm just daydreaming in it.

This is my first fic. Enjoy!

The mesmerizing blue swirls and currents of light enveloped the tiny object within. Sailing through the otherworldly environment of hyperspace, the small pocket of matter sped on its way to the edge of the galaxy.

Inside the starfighter, Jedi Knight Ediir Kam took a moment to reflect on his mission before his imminent reversion to normal space. He, along with his companion R4-G8, had been sent to investigate the disappearance of a clone team whose mission had been, by personal request from the Chancellor's office, to check on an outpost run by the Extragalactic Society, often shortened to ExGal, on the planet Belkadan.

The outpost was intended to watch for extragalactic objects entering the galaxy. The outpost was also used by Republic scientists for some minor research on Belkadan's plant and animal life. To the best of Kam's knowledge, this research had never yielded anything significant, which had made the following events all the stranger.

Two weeks before, the outpost had sent a report to the ExGal society indicating that they had tracked the progress of several objects believed to be extragalactic entering the galaxy. Excited, the head office of the ExGal society had sent a message asking for more details, as well as a follow-up report providing more data on the trajectory and composition of the objects in question.

The report had never arrived.

Somehow, the incident had quickly come to the attention of the Chancellor's office. Why the chancellor would have contacts within the ExGal society Kam didn't know, but the chancellor had sent the word down the Grand Army's command chain, and a small task force of clones had immediately been detached from a conflict a few sectors away and sent to investigate.

They, too, had not reported in.

The Chancellor notified the Jedi Council and requested that a Jedi be sent to investigate what had happened, both to the outpost and the task force. The Council had been reluctant to remove a Jedi from the field to investigate what seemed a relatively trivial matter, but the Chancellor had insisted. Thus Kam was on his way to a planet in the far reaches of the Outer Rim, to investigate some minor matter when he should have been helping his troops secure a victory on the battlefield.

Kam sighed, sensing his irritation, and began a meditating exercise to relieve himself of the negative emotion. He was still prone to this, irritation and impatience. It had been three months since he had been knighted, his padawan braid severed and given to his master. In that time, he had been reassigned to fight with the Republics clone troops in several of the many skirmishes between the Republic and Separatists in the Outer Rim.

It had been almost three years since Geonosis. Kam had not gone on that mission, but his Master had. She had returned when so many had not, a haunted look in her eye and weariness in her step. The deaths of so many Jedi haunted her, and haunted Kam.

In the years after, the war between the Republic and Separatists had grown, spreading from the small spark that was Geonosis to rage across the galaxy. Kam had spent the last years of his apprenticeship fighting on countless planets, honing his fighting skills even as wartime hardened him and turned the once gentle, optimistic padawan into a cynical, experienced warrior.

Thinking about it, he supposed that he was thankful, in a way, for this mission. It seemed fairly straightforward, and the long hyperspace journey, though cramped in his Delta-class starfighter, gave him a chance to meditate and regain his focus.

And it wasn't like he was alone.

"Yes, I know, R4," he said as a particularly insistent beeping drew him out of his musings. His companion for over a year, R4 had proved himself as courageous and resourceful a fighter as Kam had ever met, and Kam now considered the droid a friend. He supposed that he had his fellow knight, Anakin Skywalker, to thank for that point of view. Before meeting Skywalker in the midst of a series of intense battles, Kam had viewed droids as being merely parts and programming, but watching the interaction between Anakin and his astromech, R2-D2, had taught him to view his own astromech as more than the sum of its parts, and eventually he considered the droid a friend.

Now, though, his friend was irritated with him for ignoring the steady flashing of the alarm in front of him, warning Kam that he was nearly at the reversion point.

Kam rested his hand on the lever, focusing his mind on the mission as the timer in front of him counted down.

_3…2…1…0_

Kam pulled the lever, and the small craft exited hyperspace. R4 immediately started a scan of the Belkadan system, of which the planet Belkadan was the only inhabitable planet. Kam scanned his instruments as the droid reported his findings; the sensors had detected no ships or ship debris in-system. All that was present was the star, three planets of which only Belkadan was life-sustaining, and the small moon that orbited Belkadan.

"Alright, R4, let's get closer," Kam told the droid. He suited actions to words as he detached his ship from the hyperspace ring and accelerated the ship to approach the planet. Consulting the data stored in his ship's databanks, he approached the side of the planet that the outpost was established on. "Inform me if you detect any trace of the task force."

The response flashed across his screen: '**Of course. It's not** **like I have any distractions.**'

"Oh?"

'**Like meditating. At least one of us pays attention.**'

Kam snorted quietly as he keyed for the approach to the base. He would investigate the base first, to see if the scientists were there, and if there was any trace of the task force. Once again, he idly wondered why Chancellor Palpatine, of all people, was interested in such a trivial matter when there was a war going on.

R4 beeped to get his attention. '**Several rock formations have broken off the moon and are approaching the planet. There has been no apparent disturbance to cause their behaviour.**'

"Do a scan of the basic structure and composition of the rocks," Kam replied, wondering what could have caused their behaviour. Did they have anything to do with the objects that the outpost had been tracking?

'**The rock formations are made of a structure not identified in my databanks. They appear to be hollow.**' A pause, then: '**They appear to be moving under their own volition.**'

What? Kam frowned, then reached for the Force. Perhaps it would help him determine the nature of the objects.

He allowed himself to sink into the Force, then directed his attention in the direction of the rocks.

There was nothing there.

Kam frowned, then focused more deeply and tried again. What he sensed caused him to inhale in shock.

"There's nothing there…"

'**Beg pardon, sir?**'

The rocks were not present at all in the Force. Where the rocks were, there was only a void in the Force. Nothing. It was as if the rocks did not exist.

As he stared at the screen, shocked, the rocks altered their vector. Instead of moving towards the planet, they were now moving towards him…and speeding up. More rocks detached themselves from the moon as he sat there.

He wrenched himself out of his daze. "R4, open highest-priority communications with the nearest Jedi cruiser immediately – and prepare a recording of this to be transmitted!" As he spoke, he opened up the throttle, and his ship sped up, moving away from the rapidly approaching rocks – which followed.

A small blue hologram materialized in front of him. "Greetings, Jedi Kam," the master in front of him said, inclining his head. Kam couldn't believe his fortune – Council member Obi-Wan Kenobi.

"Master Kenobi, I am currently in the Belkadan system," he said rapidly. "I have encountered several rock structures which are behaving like spacecraft – I am sending a recording of their behaviour. These structures have no presence in the Force. They are just…a void. Nothing. They don't exist in the Force, master!"

Master Kenobi's expression grew very serious. He started to speak, but Kam missed the words as one of the rocks unexpectedly fired a burst of what appeared to be…plasma?

The Force gave a warning, but Kam only had enough time to jerk the main body of his ship out of the way – the weapon hit the ship's wing, and started to eat away at the metal.

It almost immediately reached his transmitter. Kam just managed to hit the button in front of him, sending the recording an instant before the communication was cut off. Then his ship's systems started screaming in failure.

Kam and the ship fell in an uncontrolled spiral towards Belkadan.

**Reviews would be awesome!**


	2. Chapter 2

Here is chapter 2! I'm going to try and update at least once a week, if I can.

I don't own star wars or any of the established characters. I'm just playing with them.

* * *

Once Obi-Wan finished making his report, the other councillors stared at him, shocked into silence. In a less serious situation, he would have found their facial expressions to be extremely funny.

Master Mundi broke the silence. "Is this even possible?"

Master Windu shifted uncomfortably. "There are creatures in the galaxy known to have strange effects on the Force. The ysalamiri from Myrkr, for example, can create bubbles of emptiness in the force. Jedi Kam may have sensed something of the sort."

Obi-Wan stared at the holograms of the other councillors in silence. Jedi Kam's report, and the accompanying holograms, had set them all to unease. Objects such as the apparent rocks seen in the holograms, which were invisible to the Force, were extremely rare, and the existence of another such substance was not good. "Could these…rocks…possibly be a new Separatist weapon?"

"It's possible," Mace said. "They certainly seemed like ships in the hologram, and the weapon that they shot at Jedi Kam's starfighter were unlike any I have ever seen."

Silence greeted his words. The real-time recording that Jedi Kam had sent had suddenly been cut off an instant after that weapon hit. None of them were sure whether he was still alive, as the Force was too full of death from the ongoing war for them to be sure of feeling his.

"No," Master Yoda said. "A separatist weapon, these ships are not. Feel, I do, that they are part of a new threat. More dangerous, perhaps, than even the Separatists."

The impact of his statement rippled through the Council. The Republic was holding its own against the Separatists, but just barely. There was no way they could stand against another dangerous threat.

"Speculation without information is pointless," Mace said finally. "We should gather more information about this possible threat. Perhaps we should send another task force to Belkadan, larger and better equipped than the original clone task force."

"Anakin and I can go," Obi-Wan volunteered. "We are the closest Jedi to the Belkadan system, and have finished our operations on Typhalon. I have three cruisers that I could take to Belkadan immediately."

"Very well," Mace said. "If the Council is in agreement, you and Skywalker will go to Belkadan and find out as much as you can about this new threat."

The Council members nodded their agreement, and the holograms evaporated.

Obi-Wan Kenobi stood up and drew out his comlink. "Anakin," he said.

"Anakin here," was the immediate reply.

"Come to the bridge immediately," Obi-wan said. "And bring your padawan. We have a new mission."

Anakin was silent for a moment, likely hearing the concern and worry in his former Master's voice. "Copy that. We're on our way."

Obi-Wan put away his comlink, then walked out of the room that the meeting had taken place in and onto the bridge. He started giving commands to assign a garrison to remain on the planet they had just repelled the Separatists from, and for the ships to prepare to move out.

Anakin arrived on the bridge, his padawan on his heels. "What's the situation, Master?"

Obi-Wan waited a moment to gather his thoughts before speaking. "Jedi Kam was sent on a mission to the Belkadan system to investigate the disappearance of a research station and a Republic task force. While he was there, he was attacked by several unknown objects, and his communication was cut off."

"And?" Anakin asked, sensing that there was more.

Obi-Wan sighed. "The objects, though assumed to be spacecraft, did not match anything that we know of. And…Jedi Kam reported that he could not feel them in the Force. The communication was cut off right after his starfighter was hit with an unknown weapon from one of these spacecraft."

Ahsoka Tano, Anakin's padawan, gasped slightly. A look of concern crossed Anakin's face.

"Ediir couldn't feel them in the Force at all?" he asked.

Obi-Wan shook his head. "He said that they felt like a void. We aren't sure if he is even still alive."

"He is," Anakin replied, absently crossing his arms as he concentrated on the Force. Obi-Wan remembered that Anakin and Ediir Kam had bonded nearly a year earlier on a series of difficult missions, so it was reasonable that Anakin could still feel him. "But he's definitely in trouble."

"Well, our mission is to take our three cruisers to Belkadan to investigate the situation. We're leaving in four hours, and the trip should take about three."

Anakin nodded. "Can I see the record of the communication?"

"Of course."

The three Jedi turned to a nearby station, where Obi-Wan brought up the recording that Jedi Kam had sent an hour earlier. They watched in silence.

* * *

Ediir Kam watched as the warriors destroyed his starfighter.

As his ship had fallen towards Belkadan's surface, he and R4 had managed to eject from the ship just before it had crashed. They had returned to the ship to scavenge supplies, and hidden in the nearby forest as the enemy ships flew overhead.

By chance, or the Force, they had landed only a few kilometers from where the research base had been. They started in that direction, but stopped to watch through the trees as the two ships landed near the starfighter in the small clearing where it had crashed.

"Are you recording this?" Kam asked in an extremely soft tone, and R4 beeped an affirmative just as quietly. Part of the two ships had peeled back, and two humanoids had stepped out, one from each ship.

They were unlike anything that Kam had ever seen. They were taller and more heavily built than the average human. Each of them wore a suit of organic-looking, plate-like armour. Their skin, or what Kam could see of it, was grey. They spoke to each other in a harsh, snarling language.

One of them had walked towards his crashed starfighter, the other quickly following. The first one unfurled a flexible, snake-like creature from its – his? – waist, then did something that made it stiffen into a staff. The creature looked to be about two metres long. The second warrior had followed suit, removing a similar creature from its waist.

Kam reached out through the Force, confirming what he had already expected – the warriors and their creatures did not appear in the Force; only a void was present.

The warriors were now using the staffs to hack the starfighter into pieces. The staffs cut through the metal with little resistance.

Apparently they hated the starfighter for some reason. Possibly they just disliked technology, as all of their technology appeared to be organic. Even the ships looked organic, now that he could see them more closely.

Kam fingered his lightsaber uneasily. "We should move out," he whispered to R4. "Make for that research base."

R4 whistled uneasily. Kam struggled to understand the language – he was not nearly as fluent in droidspeak as Anakin – and concluded that R4 had said that that was likely where the warriors would look first for the starfighter's occupant.

"Yes, but our only way out of here is to find some sort of ship there." Although if the humanoids truly hated technology, they might have already destroyed anything that might have been there.

R4 suggested that they try to steal one of the ships that the warriors had come in. Kam considered it, but he didn't know if he would be able to pilot one of them.

"Well, we could try," he replied.

Even as he spoke, the warriors finished their dissection of his ship. Speaking again, in that strange language, they examined the ground around the remains of his starfighter, then strode purposefully in his direction.

Kam decided to confront them. "Stay here, out of sight," he whispered to R4, then rolled out of their hiding place in a clump of bushes and stood up. Striding forward, he drew his lightsaber from his belt but did not light it.

The warriors caught sight of him. Snarling, they sped up until they were only a few metres from him.

"Who are you? What is your business?" Kam called to them, taking a ready position.

The two snarled in reply, before one of them stepped forward. "Surrender, infidel," he – Kam was fairly certain it was a he – grated out in very poor, difficult-to-understand Basic.

Kam activated his lightsaber; the green shaft lit his face and threw shadows against the nearby trees. "I suggest that you surrender," he replied. The warriors snarled in response, then leapt at his, swinging their staffs.

Kam pivoted, moving to attack the one that had spoken. He brought his lightsaber up to block the attack from the warrior's staff, confident that the lightsaber would cut the creature in two.

His blade met the creature, which to his surprise seemed unaffected by the lightsaber. The force of the blow staggered him; he hadn't expected that the creature would resist his lightsaber, and so hadn't braced himself against the fierce blow.

Surprised, he stepped back and regained his balance. The second warrior leapt at his as the first made another attack with the staff.

He ducked under the first attack, meeting the second with his blade. The warriors were very fast and strong, but he drew on the Force to increase his own strength and speed, spinning away from their attacks and moving his blade so rapidly that it seemed he was wielding multiple blades. The Force flowed through him as strongly as it ever had.

He saw an opening, ducking under a blow and bringing his lightsaber up to slash the chest of his opponent. Yet his blade merely skittered off the armour that the being was wearing, and that fact sent him staggering with shock again, his concentration broken.

The other warrior gestured, and his weapon changed from a staff to a whip, lashing towards his face. Kam brought his blade up to block – and the creature _ wrapped itself around his lightsaber. _The warrior yanked the creature, and his lightsaber flew out of his hand.

Snarling in victory, the second warrior lunged forward and slammed a fist into his stomach. Kam wheezed, drawing on the Force to remain upright and feeling the spines on the warrior's armoured fists leave deep cuts in his abdomen. With his other hand, the warrior seized Kam around the throat, choking him.

Kam drew on his Jedi discipline to keep himself from blacking out as he struggled against the warrior, but he was losing the battle. Darkness crept in around the edges of his vision –

And the warrior suddenly released him, his limbs spasming. Kam looked behind the warrior to see R4 beeping angrily, one of his appendages extended. Kam momentarily forgotten, the warriors turned on the astromech angrily, lashing out with their staffs to bisect him.

Drawing on the Force, Kam sent his friend flying away from the warriors and drew lightsaber into his hand. He was wounded, blood seeping from his stomach and his throat sore and bruised, but he released his pain and charged the warriors.

This time he focused on the gaps between the armour plates as he dodged and wove around them, never stopping or stumbling. Finding a gap in one of the warrior's defense, he again slid his blade in, this time aiming for a gap in the armour rather than at the armour plates themselves. He slid his blade into the gap between two plates, stabbing up through the warrior's side and cutting deeply into his abdomen.

He withdrew the blade from the warrior, who collapsed. However, thanks to the armour, he had to take a moment to withdraw it back the way it had come. As he did so, the other warrior snarled angrily, lunging forward in an attack.

Kam twisted so that the staff, which the warrior swung at his chest, would miss him. However, as it moved the weapon changed from its staff form to its flexible form. His movement wasn't enough to dodge it in its whip form, and the creature sank its teeth into his side. The warrior howled in victory.

However, in the warrior's moment of distraction, Kam finished withdrawing his blade, and sank it nearly to the hilt through another tiny gap in the armour.

The warrior fell, and Kam turned his attention to the creature whose teeth were still digging into his side. He brought his lightsaber on it with more force, aiming for the neck, and after a moment his lightsaber beheaded the creature. Its jaws relaxed, and both pieces fell to the ground.

Kam straightened – and snapped out a word that his master definitely would have scolded him for as he felt a burning sensation spread through his side. Apparently the creature's bite was poisonous. He had no time to dwell on it, though, as he heard what sounded like several ships approaching in the distance.

"Come on, R4!" he said, staggering towards the warrior's ships, using the Force to combat the poison that was slowly spreading through his body, letting it give him the strength to walk.

A few minutes later, Kam was very discouraged. The ships were alive, and seemed to be made of something like coral. They were actually rather beautiful, but they had no interface system like he was used to. He had found some sort of hood that he suspected might be a biological interface, but had hesitated to put it on. In any case, he couldn't pilot the starfighter, and R4 was just as confused as he was.

Looking up, he saw several more ships approaching, including one that looked large enough to hold several warriors. Kam definitely didn't want to face any more, especially when he was wounded. The first two, after all, were difficult for him to beat.

"Come on, R4," he said, turning and heading into the forest, in the direction of the research base. He was painfully aware of the poison in his side. Though the Force was holding it at bay, he could still feel himself weakening. He suspected that he would have to enter a healing meditation before he could cleanse himself of it completely.

First, though, he planned on putting distance between himself and the clearing. He definitely wanted to avoid any more of the humanoids.

As he walked, he couldn't help but wonder: what were they?

How did I do? This was the first time I've ever tried to write a fight scene, and I wasn't sure how it turned out. I also originally intended for Kam to die at the end of chapter one, but kind of fell in love with his character – and R4. Oh, well.

Reviews, please!


	3. Chapter 3

Hey everyone! Here's chapter three.

I don't own star wars, etc, etc

Space flickered, and three cruisers appeared in the Belkadan system.

"Check the scanners," General Kenobi ordered. "Are any Separatist forces or rock formations that match the data from General Kam's recording present?"

"Negative on the Separatists; there're no droids out here," an officer replied. A pause, then: "Scanners are inconclusive on the rock formations, sir. There are none in open space, but there may be some on one of the planets or moons."

Obi-Wan stared at the planet Belkadan through the viewscreen. "Can you reach General Kam's communications array or comlink from here?" he asked the ship's communication officer.

"The communication array is not active, sir, and the comlink would not have enough range without a booster to reach this ship."

"Then stay alert on those scanners, and move in towards Belkadan," Obi-Wan ordered. Then he opened a com channel to Anakin. "Can you sense Jedi Kam?"

"Yes, master," Anakin said, the honorific slipping out. "But he definitely isn't doing well. He's seriously injured, and in danger."

"Sir!" one of the sensor officers called. "Several rock formations have detached from Belkadan's moon. I read…six of them, General."

"Launch starfighters," Obi-Wan ordered. He focused again on his comlink. "How's this for a plan, Anakin. We distract the starfighters, and you and your padawan slip into Belkadan in a shuttle and pick up Jedi Kam."

"Already ahead of you, Obi-Wan," Anakin replied. "We'll launch once the starfighters are out."

"Alright, Anakin – and be cautious, for once," Obi-Wan replied. "Ediir was right – I can't sense the spacecraft in the Force."

"You know me," Anakin joked. "Skywalker out."

Obi-Wan looked out the viewscreen again, focusing on the enemy starfighters as they drew closer to the cruisers.

* * *

Ediir Kam was exhausted.

It had been seven hours since his fight with the warriors. He and R4 had travelled a kilometer away from the clearing before he rested and meditated to clear himself of the poison. However, the ships he had heard had landed, and though he hadn't actually seen any more of the warriors, they had been pursuing him constantly.

He wasn't able to complete his meditation, so the poison still burned in his side. The deep wounds in his abdomen also distracted him, though he had managed to stop the bleeding and use part of his tunic as a bandage.

The seven hour walk had also sapped his strength. Luckily R4 had jets that allowed him to move over obstructions, and so they had made decent time. They had initially made for the research base – though by now Kam could sense that it was abandoned – but then he had realized, by searching for the voids in the Force, that he was being herded by several groups of warriors.

That drew him to conclude that the research base was a trap, as he and R4 had suspected. Trusting his instincts, he had turned away from the research base and gone further into the jungle, moving constantly because of the following warriors.

He hadn't actually seen any, but a few times some sort of bug had flown out from the woods far behind him, to embed itself in a tree. The bugs, he had found on examination, were razor sharp – though they at least weren't resistant to his lightsaber. Kam took surprising comfort in that fact.

He suddenly felt a whisper at the edge of his senses, even as R4 gave a quiet but excited beep.

"Yes, R4," he said. "I think help has arrived."

He started looking for a clearing of some sort where he could summon extraction, but only a few minutes had passed before he saw several large rock-like ships fly out from a few kilometers away and take an exit trajectory. "That can't be good…"

He felt a sudden warning in the Force, and twisted to the side – but too slowly. Another of the sharp bugs flew past him, slicing his upper arm. It turned in midair, coming back towards him – and was intersected by his lightsaber.

Using the Force, he threw R4 back, away from the bug's origin and into a patch of bushes where, in combination with the coating of mud and forest debris Kam had given him earlier, he would hopefully be disguised well enough to be safe for a while.

Kam turned, lightsaber blazing in hand, as nearly two dozen warriors entered the clearing, coming into view.

All too aware of his injuries and the skill of the warriors, he drew a deep breath and drew on the Force, accepting his likely impending death.

* * *

"Fire up the systems, R2," Anakin ordered, already pressing buttons and doing the preflight checks. The shuttle that he was in was intended for up to a dozen people, and sported decent medical facilities and defensive capabilities. It was intended for inconspicuous retrievals where a gunship would be too large or obvious.

Beside him, his padawan was fidgeting slightly in her chair. Anakin didn't even need to look at her, visually or through the Force; her apprehension and nervousness was pouring off her. She was experienced enough that it couldn't be due to the danger of the mission, and it wasn't hard to guess what was bothering her.

"Worried about the enemy, Ahsoka?"

His padawan didn't look at him, fiddling instead with one of her lightsaber hilts. "I've never encountered an enemy that couldn't be felt in the Force before, Master," she replied.

"Don't worry, snips," he replied, hiding his own unease. "This is a simple retrieval. In and out before you know it."

She smiled slightly; then her expression turned serious. "Is Jedi Kam badly injured, Master?" she asked, concerned for her fellow Jedi. She had met him a few times when Ediir and Anakin had managed to find time to goof off, and liked the tall, slightly reckless Jedi.

Anakin sighed. He could clearly feel Ediir on the planet below, and could sense that he was seriously injured and in danger. "Yes, Ahsoka. Once we pick him up I'll want you to check him over and give him what medical care you can."

She nodded. Anakin watched the starfighters take off, and then guided the shuttle out of the hanger bay and into the vacuum of space.

* * *

_This is definitely new_, CT-2279, also known as Silver, thought to himself as he watched the incoming rocks. He had fought ship-to-ship against nearly every type of fighter and ship that the Separatists had to throw at him, but he had never encountered anything like these rocks.

He nudged his ARC-170 starfighter on a path to intercept them, precisely aligned with the rest of his squad. Their orders were to engage if the enemy proved to be hostile, which the officers seemed to think they would be. He'd seen the briefing, seen the plasma weapons that these things could shoot out, and up until now hadn't been sure that they hadn't been some sort of high-level prank.

He saw several more launch from the planet, and some larger ones launch from the planet. The larger ones looked to be slightly larger than corvettes.

An even bigger one, only slightly smaller than the cruisers, joined them.

A shiver passed up Silver's spine as he calculated that there were suddenly nearly equal odds between the two groups – and the Republic knew next to nothing of the capabilities of these ships.

The foremost enemy starfighters opened fire. Silver grinned as a familiar surge of adrenaline passed through him, and flew to meet them.

_Let's see what you're made of._

* * *

"Look, Master!" Ahsoka suddenly said, pointing at one of the monitors. "We just received a transmission from Master Kam's astromech!"

"What does it say?" Anakin asked, his focus intent as he approached the planet, avoided enemy ships, and kept an eye on the battle simultaneously.

" '**Master Kam under attack by multiple skilled warriors**,'" Ahsoka read. " '**Over twenty. Request immediate retrieval.**'" The message was accompanied by a set of coordinates, which Anakin fed into the computer.

"Got it." He stared out the viewscreen at the planet. "Hold on, Ediir," he whispered.

* * *

Ediir couldn't hold out much longer. He had collected several more cuts and bites from the warriors, and was nearing the end of his strength. He could feel poison flowing through his veins, which burned at its passage.

He ducked under a thrust, parrying another as he stepped out of the way of yet another bug. Always defending, constantly changing position, knowing that if he stayed in one place for too long he would be dead.

_Hurry up…_

* * *

General Kenobi watched the progress of the space battle through the viewscreen and on the display in front of him, occasionally giving orders. Anakin should be nearly to Jedi Kam by now, and he hoped that Kam would still be alive by then.

The ships, as far as the sensors could tell, were both propelled and shielded by gravitational anomalies generated by each individual ship against them. The sensors noted that these anomalies moved to intercept every shot that the starfighters fired.

He frowned suddenly at the display. One of the anomalies on an enemy starfighter had shifted, and suddenly the shields of the Republic starfighter it was dogfighting disappeared. A single plasma blast blew the defenceless ship into pieces.

The same thing happened to several other starfighters as he watched.

Suddenly he looked at the largest enemy ship, advancing on the cruiser to the right of the others. A horrible premonition shivered through him…

The cruiser focused its voids on the opposing ship, abruptly stripping its shields away. The cruiser, and several of the smaller ships, immediately focused their fire on the suddenly open ship.

The Republic cruiser was ripped apart by the plasma attacks.

"Pull back!" General Kenobi shouted. "Cruisers pull back and start preparations to enter hyperspace!"

He pulled out his comm. "Anakin, I hope you've rescued Jedi Kam, because the enemy just destroyed one of our cruisers!"

* * *

"Copy that, Master," Anakin replied. "Retrieving him now."

"There, Master!" Ahsoka said, pointing through the viewscreen at a point of green light visible through the trees.

As they approached, Anakin readied the blaster cannons. _This will be risky, but there's no time to engage them hand-to-hand._

Anakin saw Ediir fighting about twenty warriors. Three warriors were down, dead or injured, but his attention was drawn to how badly injured Ediir appeared.

"Ahsoka, go to the hatch and be ready to pull Ediir in with the Force if he needs help."

Heeding his orders, Ahsoka left the cockpit. Thrusting aside the worry that filled him, he sighted with the blaster cannons and loosed several shots, wiping out most of the warriors around Kam.

He pulled the ship sharply around, hovering barely a meter above the ground with the hatch right in front of Kam. As he did so, he saw an astromech – R4, he thought, though it was hard to tell through the mud – activate its jets and fly to the hatch.

"Master, both Jedi Kam and an astromech are on board."

Anakin sealed the hatch, then turned the ship and blasted away at top speed towards the two remaining cruisers.

* * *

Obi-Wan watched on the monitor as one of the pilots, CT-2279 – AKA Silver – managed to damage an enemy starfighter by shooting a large number of slightly divergent, low-powered shots that the anomalies couldn't entirely block.

He activated the comm. "Silver, hold off on that kill. Tractor beams, draw the damaged enemy starfighter into the hanger and contain it with a restraining field."

He received acknowledgements, and a minute later a report that the starfighter was in the hanger and contained.

Looking at the display, he saw that Anakin would be on board in a minute.

"All starfighters, return to cruisers. Cruisers, prepare to enter hyperspace on my mark."

He watched all of the starfighters, and the shuttle, return to the cruisers. An instant later, he received the ready signals from both ships.

"Mark."

The two cruisers pulled into hyperspace.

* * *

Obi-Wan arrived at the hangar, meeting Anakin and Ahsoka to watch as Jedi Ediir Kam was taken to the medbay. He had suffered extensive injuries, including many slashing wounds, bruising around his neck, several ribs that appeared to be cracked, and two bite wounds that appeared to be poisonous. Kam had, according to Ahsoka, dropped into a healing trance almost immediately upon being rescued, with little explanation of what had happened to him. His astromech droid, R4-G8, hadn't left his side, beeping in concern, and now trailed after the clone medics transporting him.

After receiving assurances that Kam would be well cared for, Obi-Wan turned his attention to the captured starfighter and the pilot visible through the canopy.

"Release the containing fields," he ordered. The hangar personnel obeyed.

Almost immediately, part of the starfighter peeled back and the pilot stepped out. The pilot was wearing what looked like plate armour, and immediately drew what appeared to be a thin snake from around its waist, which quickly hardened into a staff.

"Who are you?" Obi-Wan demanded, stepping forward with lightsaber glowing in his hand. Behind him, Anakin and Ahsoka both drew their lightsabers, but left them unlit.

The pilot snarled, then said in mangled basic: "I am Yuuzhan Vong, _Jeedai_."

Without waiting for a reply, the pilot leapt forward, bringing the staff around in an attack. Obi-Wan brought his lightsaber up to meet the attack, and heard Anakin activate his lightsaber and order Ahsoka to stay back before he, too, engaged the fighter.

The three of them fought, the Jedi impressed by their opponent's skill. They were trying, however, to take their opponent alive, and so avoided killing blows.

With a powerful slash, Anakin knocked the staff aside, then slammed the hilt of his lightsaber hard against the pilot's unarmoured head. The pilot was simply sent reeling, however, and quickly responded by drawing a bug and throwing it at Anakin, who dodged it. The bug came back around behind him, however, and hit his back with a thud. Anakin fell to his knees.

Obi-Wan attacked in earnest, driving the pilot away from his partner. Glancing quickly to the side, he saw Anakin rising – apparently the bug was only intended to knock an opponent down. Returning his gaze to his opponent, he tried to figure out a way to incapacitate the pilot without harming him –

And suddenly a stun shot hit the pilot square in the head. The pilot collapsed, unconscious.

Obi-Wan glanced to the side to see the wielder of the blaster. "Good job, Rex." Turning back to his opponent, he contemplated the 'Yuuzhan Vong'. The way that the pilot had said the phrase told him that it was a species name, not an individual name.

"Strip him of everything on him and store it – but be careful," he commanded the nearby troopers. "Then take him to the brig."

After watching the troops carry out his instructions, and sending Ahsoka to accompany the pilot to the bridge, he ordered that a containment field again be placed around the ship. Then he turned and, accompanied by Anakin, headed for the medbay to check on Jedi Kam.

So, there's chapter 3! I'm looking forward to writing the next chapter – hopefully Sidious will make an appearance


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey everyone! Sorry it took so long for me to get this up. But here it is.**

**Once again, I own none of Star Wars.**

"General Kenobi just landed, Master," the Jedi in charge of the hanger reported.

"Good," Master Windu replied. "Tell him to report to the Council immediately – and to bring Skywalker with him. Have Jedi Kam sent to the healers."

After the Jedi had signed off, Master Windu examined his fellow Council members. All of them had troubled faces; the recent news was very concerning.

Upon hearing that Kenobi and Skywalker had been driven back by the Yuuzhan Vong fleet, but had successfully rescued Jedi Kam, the Council had ordered them to return to Coruscant, for a full debrief, Jedi medical care for Kam, and so that Jedi and Republic scientists could examine the ship as well as its pilot, who was being kept unconscious until he could be interrogated properly. In the intervening time, however, the Jedi had received very disturbing news, and were in constant discussions with the Chancellor.

"Good it is that Obi-Wan and Skywalker have returned," Master Yoda said, breaking the silence. "Some light on the situation, they may spread."

"Yes," Master Ki-Adi-Mundi replied. "And an analysis of the fighter and pilot they are bringing could yield valuable information about this new threat."

Information that was now, suddenly, badly needed.

* * *

Anakin and Obi-Wan entered the briefing room to find the members of the Jedi Council standing around a holographic map of the galaxy. Masters Windu, Yoda and Fisto, and of course Obi-Wan, were there in person, while the other masters were there in holographic form.

Master Windu turned away from the map upon sensing them enter.

"Master Kenobi, Knight Skywalker," he greeted them gravely. Obi-Wan was struck by the gravity of the Council members – though each of them had become even more serious with the outbreak of the Clone Wars, the Council had never felt like this. Not even after Geonosis.

"Has something happened?" he asked, worried. Anakin, however, had immediately focused on the map, and was standing in front of it, frowning.

"Look, Obi-Wan," he said, ignoring the Council. He was pointing at a spot on the map. Silence enveloped the room as Obi-Wan looked at the map. He quickly oriented himself by noting the blue regions on the map symbolizing Republic-controlled worlds, the red regions symbolizing Separatist worlds, and the orange areas of conflict scattered throughout.

Anakin, though, was pointing at an area of space that included the Belkadan system. Looking at the region, Obi-Wan saw that it was now coloured grey. A chill passed through him as he realized that far more systems than just Belkadan were enveloped within it.

"What is this?" he asked. A thought occurred to him. "Is it…"

"Yes," Master Fisto replied. "In the past day, Yuuzhan Vong fleets have attacked and conquered over a dozen Outer Rim systems. None of them were able to resist in any way, and attempts to communicate with the systems have failed."

"We have sent forces to reinforce the Republic bases and planets near the Yuuzhan Vong, and no doubt the Separatists have done the same," Master Koth added. "But we know next to nothing about these invaders. We have gotten no clear report of their numbers, strength, or technology."

"We expect your report to shine some light on this threat," Master Windu said. With that all attention fell on the Jedi team, who began their report.

An hour later, the pair had recounted everything they remembered. If anything, the Council seemed even more worried.

"Good, it is, that captured the pilot and the ship you did," Master Yoda said. "Learn much from them, we will."

"We should report this to the Chancellor," Master Windu said. "He requested updates on whatever we learn about these invaders."

"Contact the Chancellor, I will," Master Yoda said. "Now, make plans to face these invaders, we should."

"Yes," Obi-Wan replied. "Anakin, do you think you can devise some tactics or daredevil tricks that would be of use against these invaders?"

"You bet, Master," Anakin replied. "And maybe I'll talk to our pilot, Silver – he had the highest kill count of anyone in that battle."

Yoda was opening his mouth to speak when a comm beeped. Master Windu pressed the button on the console while everyone else listened.

"Yes?"

"Master Windu," the crisp, military voice on the other end said. "Tunsren IV is under attack by an unknown alien force."

Anakin listened, worried. Tunsren IV was a Republic outpost located at a strategic location in the Outer Rim, on the crossroads of several hyperspace routes. For that reason it had been heavily reinforced against any Separatist attacks. He exchanged a meaningful glance with Obi-Wan.

"What is the size and type of this force?" Master Windu asked.

"It is made up of seven cruiser-sized ships, ten smaller gunboat-sized ships, and nearly a hundred fighters. And…" A pause. "We just lost contact with the base, sir."

"Send reinforcements, we should," Master Yoda said. Master Windu nodded in agreement. The decision was quickly made to send a fleet located relatively close to the besieged base. Then Master Yoda hobbled out of the room to go to the Senate and speak to the Chancellor.

"Well," Master Windu said to the remaining Jedi in the room, "Let's get to work."

* * *

Three hour later, Chancellor Palpatine, also known as the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, lost himself in furious contemplation.

The report he had just received from Master Yoda was incredibly disturbing – and worrisome. The alien force – the Yuuzhan Vong – had taken with ease not only a dozen insignificant and unaligned systems, but also a Republic base. He had contacted Dooku soon after Yoda had left, and Dooku had informed him that two Separatist bases had also been attacked.

They were attacking early!

Sidious had known of the aliens, of course. Their agents had been making incursions into the galaxy for decades, and the Sith had, of course, known. There had been rumours as far back as the time of Darth Bane, and even a few, though unconfirmed, from the time of Darth Revan.

But from the patterns his agents had analyzed, as well as interrogations of one of the agents, the invasion wasn't supposed to start for several more decades – possibly as many as forty years. The majority of the enemy ships had been travelling at a pace which would not have allowed them to arrive in the galaxy before then. How had they arrived so early?

Just as troubling was the troubles this presented for his plan. Sidious had been planning to pit the Republic and Separatists, both under his control, against each other for a little while longer until the galaxy was in such chaos that they would welcome the creation of a new, peaceful, stable Empire. And once his Empire was in place, he had planned to build up his forces, hardening the galaxy against the coming extragalactic invaders.

Unfortunately, though he had two great armies, both had worn themselves down battling each other. Sidious found himself reluctantly agreeing with Master Yoda. '"Fight wars against two threats, we cannot,"' the green troll had said. Sidious couldn't argue that. He would have to drastically alter his plans.

Now, though, his thoughts settled on another being, who knew of the invaders even before Sidious had contacted him. Who might have additional information that could be of use. Who he had planned to introduce to the mainstream galaxy after his plans for the Jedi and the Republic came to fruition.

Perhaps, he mused, he should speed that up…

**Well? This was a slower-paced chapter, but it sets the scene for a lot of what will happen in future chapters. Can anyone guess what comes next?**

**Also, I get to bring in one of my all-time favourite Star Wars characters soon! Yay!**


	5. Chapter 5

"I believe it is the only solution," Palpatine told the group of Senators and Jedi in the meeting before him. "We cannot fight a war on two fronts, and I believe that the Separatists will recognize this as well. As a result, I believe they may be open to negotiation."

Senator Organa of Alderaan cleared his throat. "Chancellor, the Separatists are not open to rejoining the Republic. Any peace would have to include Republic recognition of the Separatists as a legitimate government, which the Senate would likely not support."

"Of course we wouldn't!" Senator Orn Free Taa retorted. "The Separatists are an illegal rebellion. Recognizing them as a legitimate government would be a disaster to the Republic – one we cannot stand for."

"Yet we may have no choice," Senator Organa argued. "The Republic cannot stand against this galactic threat and also fight the Separatists. To face these invaders, the galaxy must present a unified front."

"Indeed," the Chancellor replied. "I have opened the lines of communication to Count Dooku and hope to negotiate with him. If I can, I will have the Separatists rejoin the Republic, but we must have at least a peace with them. We cannot afford to be divided when facing a threat of this magnitude."

"It is decided, then," Mas Amedda stated. "The Chancellor will seek an immediate peace with the Separatist Alliance for the duration of this threat."

The Senators nodded in agreement, though most of them reluctantly, then stood and left the room, as did all of the aides and bureaucrats present. Only the Chancellor and the Jedi remained.

"The initial analysis of the ship and the captive warrior has been completed," the Chancellor told his audience. "The warrior tried several times to commit suicide, and from what we can tell of his behaviour and what he has said, his species has a deeply rooted class system and worships numerous barbaric gods. You should already have received the reports."

"Yes. They are of great interest," Master Windu replied. "Their ships in particular, being powered by the gravity projecting wells that the report called dovin basals."

"Actually, we have encountered similar ships before," Master Kenobi told the Chancellor. "On a mission about a decade ago, Anakin and I visited a planet called Zonama Sekot, where ships were made of a hybrid of our technology and technology similar to that of the alien ship. We were there searching for news of Vergere, a Knight who had vanished a year before." He paused. "From what we could discover from the natives, a mysterious alien force had raided them, and eventually left with Vergere accompanied them. I doubt this is a coincidence."

"Indeed not," Palpatine replied. "Master Windu, can you have any reports having to do with Zonama Sekot sent to my office? We should also send a task force there to learn more about these invaders."  
"Unfortunately, that will not be possible," Obi-Wan replied. "The planet left the sector that we found it in."

"The planet…left? How?" the Chancellor demanded.

"We know little, but it apparently had a hyperdrive system of some sort."

"I see. Then if the aliens also have this level of technology, we could be facing a very grave threat indeed," the Chancellor murmured. Then he looked up sharply. "Very well. We must continue to learn all we can about these invaders, and repel them as quickly as possible."

"Agreed, Chancellor," Master Yoda replied.

* * *

Sidious waited until the Jedi had left, then turned on his transmitter and waited. As he waited for Dooku to answer, he thought about the threat.

He had learned very little during the meeting, of course. The mission, the planet, and the disappearance of Vergere he had known about, of course. He had spoken to many of his contacts, both as a chancellor and as a Sith Lord, and had learned much about the alien threat. What he learned as Chancellor he had told the Jedi; he would have to find ways of subtly revealing some of what he had learned from his other contacts. Now he was working furiously on revising his grand plan to incorporate the defeat of this new threat.

The hologram shimmered to life in front of him. "Master," Count Dooku said with an elegant bow.

"Count Dooku," Sidious replied. He skipped the pleasantries – not that he normally included them anyway, of course.

"Report."

"The Separatists have lost twelve systems to these invaders, four of them holding significant bases. We are having to move many of our troops from the front lines to defend worlds close to the new frontier. The enemy appear to greatly despise our droids – far more than the living troopers."

"Indeed – they do seem to hate anything mechanical. Likely they hate the Separatists even more than the Republic," Sidious mused. "The Separatists and the Republic must form a peace treaty for the duration of this new conflict."

"Yes, Master." Dooku hesitated for a moment. "However, I do not believe that many of my forces – such as General Grievous – will easily accept this."

"Make them," was Sidious' retort. "Tell them that they can resume fighting the Republic as soon as this threat is dealt with – and make it clear that the Yuuzhan Vong intend to conquer the full galaxy. That should give them some motivation."

"Yes, Master," Dooku replied.

"Now, I will soon contact have my diplomats contact you, as Chancellor, to arrange a peace treaty. Make sure that you refuse to rejoin the Republic or give into any concessions. The territories of the Confederacy and the Republic must remain separate and independent of each other."

Dooku nodded.

"And finally, I am sending you a new agent. Promote him quickly through the ranks of the Confederacy. He is an excellent tactician and analyst, and I intend him to be a major coordinator and one of the few connections between the Republic and Confederacy. He also knows of my identity, so you need not hide that from him."

"Yes, my lord," Dooku replied. Sidious made a gesture of dismissal, and Dooku bowed and disappeared. Sidious leaned back in his chair, plotting.

* * *

"Supreme commander," the warrior said, bowing and snapping his arm up in a salute, keeping his head lowered. The warrior he addressed turned to look at him.

"Report," the Supreme Commander, one rank below the highest warrior rank of warmaster, said in the harsh, guttural language of the Yuuzhan Vong.

"The two infidel societies have begun peace negotiations," the warrior reported. "Our agents predict that these negotiations will succeed, despite the considerable hatred the two sides have for one another."

"Indeed," the Supreme Commander mused. "As expected, the infidels attempt to form a united front."

The warrior was silent. The Supreme Commander glanced at him.

"Look at me," he ordered. The warrior raised his head, taking in the sight of the Supreme Commander.

He presented a terrifying visage. His face was mishappen and covered with interlacing scars and swirling patterns of tattoos. His left hand was different from his right – while his right was the normal Yuuzhan Vong hand, which resembled a human hand, his left was the claw of some ancient beast. He wore blood red vonduun crab armour trimmed with black and the insignia of his rank; what little of his skin was visible was a mottled grey. An amphistaff twined around his waist, hissing softly.

"You have a question," Supreme Commander Matik Kaan stated. The warrior nodded silently, arms still against his chest in a salute. "You may ask it."

"Supreme Commander, why are we attacking so prematurely? The original plan revealed to us was to wait, consolidate our forces, and allow the forces soon to arrive a chance to grow accustomed to this galaxy."

"Indeed," the Supreme Commander replied. "Warmaster Lah decided that now would be a better time to attack, while the infidel armies have wearied themselves fighting each other and the people despise each other. Our agents will have far better success manipulating these infidels, and their armies will not have a chance to recuperate from their galactic civil war."

The warrior bowed, knowing that further comment would likely get him killed, and backed away. The Supreme Commander, meanwhile, turned to the communication villip to relay the new information to the Warmaster.

* * *

Kam stood, testing his legs and swinging his arms experimentally. He had gone through bacta treatment and treatment by several healers, so now felt almost as good as he had before going to Belkadan.

Almost.

Now he felt restless. He could still feel the tender soreness of several wounds, but he was overall feeling well enough to be itching to get out of the halls of healing and back to the fighting. He had kept up with news as best he could and had learned that the aliens he had encountered had already launched a considerable offensive against both the Republic and the Separatists.

He couldn't just stay here. He needed to do something.

"I'm going out for a while," he told the first healer he came across, who began to protest.

"Relax, I won't go far," he soothed. "Just going to wander a little."

The healer protested again, but Kam walked past, eager to escape before any of the healers in charge could arrive and force him to stay. Luckily for him, he did not encounter any.

He headed straight for the training dojos. He knew that he should definitely not be training now, but he also needed to get rid of the restless energy filling his body.

He arrived at one training sally to the welcome buzz of lightsabers. Looking in, he saw Anakin Skywalker and his padawan training fiercely, lightsabers crackling as they drove through several practice sets of lightsaber movement. Anakin stopped and turned towards him, his padawan following suit a moment later.

"Ediir! Great to see you up and about," Anakin said with a grin.

"Good to see you too, Anakin," Kam said, walking across the training floor to grasp forearms with Anakin. "And you, Padawan. I wanted to thank you for saving me from the Vong a week ago."

"You're welcome," Anakin said with a grin. "Hey, how about a spar?"

Kam grinned, but before he could reply, he heard a voice speak up. "Should you really be sparring now, Ediir? After all, you're still healing."

"No, I probably shouldn't be, Master Kenobi," Kam replied with a grin. Anakin grinned too, while Padawan Tano smirked and Obi-Wan shook his head.

"Well, my errand isn't urgent, so I might as well watch this spar," Master Kenobi said, sounding resigned. He sat down on a bench, Ahsoka hastening to join him, as Anakin and Kam stood in the center of the room and saluted before activating their lightsabers.

Anakin charged, and Kam met the blow. Disengaging, he swung his lightsaber around, green meeting blue as the lightsabers collided. Back and forth the two combatants fought, trading blows, both combatants swinging their blades with the speed and agility that was only possible through the Force. Faster and faster they moved, the friendly spar growing more and more furious. To the watching Jedi, the pair appeared only a dark blur accented with bursts of blue and green.

However, still weary from his ordeal, Kam made the first slip. Meeting Anakin's blade, he miscalculated, stumbling and falling to one knee, his blade slipping as he did so and giving Anakin the opportunity.

Deactivating his blade, Anakin extended a hand. Kam had exposed himself, and so their friendly spar was over. Kam saw concern in his friends eyes as Anakin pulled himself to his feet.

"I'm just still a little weary," Kam answered his friend's unspoken question. Anakin nodded, and the two moved to join Obi-Wan and Ahsoka.

"Those warriors were certainly very skilled," Ahsoka remarked.

"Indeed," Kam replied. "I have never encountered anything like them."

"Unfortunately," Obi-Wan commented, "I have a feeling that we are all about to encounter them more than we would like."

The other Jedi nodded grimly, then the group separated – Kam back to the Halls of Healing to be scolded by the healers, Obi-Wan and Anakin to a strategy meeting, and Ahsoka back to her training.

**How did it go? Do you think that the peace between the Separatists and the Republic will hold? Let me know what you think of the storyline so far!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey everyone! Sorry it took so long to update.**

**I own none of Star Wars – George Lucas does.**

**Wait a moment…I guess now Disney does.**

**And as long as they don't Disney-fy it, I guess I'm okay with that.**

The full Jedi Council surrounded the hologram, joined by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, his aids, and several important senators. Their eyes were riveted on the hologram.

"How did the Chancellor succeed so quickly in getting Count Dooku to agree to peace discussions?" Obi-Wan whispered to Master Windu. Master Windu opened his mouth to answer, but then the figure of Count Dooku appeared in the hologram.

"Chancellor, Master Jedi," Dooku said, inclining his head regally towards the viewers.

"Count Dooku," Chancellor Palpatine said, bowing his head slightly – though Obi-Wan caught a brief flash of distaste, quickly hidden. "So our agreement is settled?"

"Yes," Count Dooku said. "The Separatists will agree to a nonaggression pact for the duration of this threat, where we will not threaten Republic assets or interfere in Republic affairs, providing that the Republic honours the same agreement." The last statement seemed aimed at the Jedi in the room.

"Of course," Palpatine agreed, another tiny surge of distaste colouring the Force. "I also propose that the Republic and Separatists share all relevant information about the invaders. And perhaps a degree of military cooperation would also be of use."

"I agree, Chancellor," Count Dooku replied. "In fact, I have a proposition for you in terms of a military agreement."

"Indeed?"

"Yes. I propose we set up a liaison between our two military forces." Dooku gestured briefly to the side.

Another figure walked into the hologram. Obi-Wan studied him carefully. He was tall, dressed in a military uniform that Obi-Wan didn't recognize, and appeared to have black hair – though of course, it was hard to tell from a hologram. More interesting, though, was that both his hair and eyes seemed to be an odd colour; though the blue of the hologram didn't show any other colours, the shades of blue in the figure's skin and eyes didn't match normal human skin or eye colours. Most interesting of all, his eyes appeared to be glowing.

"This is Mitth'raw'nuruodo, though he prefers to be known as Thrawn," Count Dooku said. "He is a tactical and strategic genius, better than any I have ever come across. Most importantly, though, he has run into this species before, and he has an ability to learn about a species entire culture and predict their every move simply by studying their artwork and design. I propose that he be stationed with your military and act as a liaison for our forces."

Palpatine glanced at the senators and the Jedi, receiving only shrugs in return. "Very well," he replied. "Our negotiators can work out a more formal treaty for both of us to sign."

"Indeed," Dooku replied. "Farewell."

The hologram fizzled out.

* * *

"You ready?" the technician asked Kam. He nodded.

The tech pushed a button, and Kam saw the light go on that meant he was being recorded.

"Greetings," he began. "I am Jedi Knight Ediir Kam. I recently encountered the Yuuzhan Vong on the planet of Belkadan. I will now share with you what I have learned about countering them. To begin with, the Yuuzhan Vong don't appear in the Force – or rather, they appear as a void. They can be tracked through finding this void. This void seems to be present with all of their creatures, not just the Vong themselves…"

The Jedi Council had asked Ediir to record a holo of his experiences with the Yuuzhan Vong, particularly on how to detect and fight them. This recording would then be shown to every Jedi in the galaxy, giving them some preparation if and when they encountered the threat. Every Jedi was trained to retain as much information as possible, and Ediir was no exception. His memory of the experience was perfect, and he relayed every detail that he thought could possibly be of use.

"And now for battle techniques." Ediir stepped slightly to one side, and a hologram appeared next to him, and was recorded by the same machine recording him. Ediir recognized it as the Yuuzhan Vong pilot, recorded by a camera in the docking bay before the pilot had been captured.

"Because their intentions cannot be sensed in the Force, but the Force still gives warning if the Jedi is in danger. Despite the Yuuzhan Vong's apparent existence outside the Force, this still holds true for them. You will be able to sense it if one of their attacks will land, just as in fighting a regular opponent. However, the Force gives no indication of their weaknesses…"

Ediir had finally been declared fully recovered by the healers. After this recording, he would be heading back to the battlefront, something he looked forward to…and dreaded.

"Against a lightsaber, Yuuzhan Vong are far more dangerous than normal opponents. Their armour shell's exterior surface cannot be damaged by lightsaber attacks." Though according to analysis of the captured pilot's armour, the armour was indeed alive, and on the interior surface was a series of nerve clusters that, if hit, would make the armour useless against lightsabers. That information, though, was included in a recording by one of the researchers…and anyway, most of the time, to reach those nerve points you had to stab through the armour anyway.

"Their armour is segmented, though, and therefore has numerous weak points where a lightsaber can penetrate. In my combat with them, I used these points." Kam indicated each, then activated his lightsaber and slowly stabbed through one of them.

"However, as their armour is lightsaber resistant, pulling the lightsaber out takes time, and that leaves you open for an attack by another Yuuzhan Vong, as I discovered. To combat this, I recommend deactivating the lightsaber, and then immediately reactivating it. This technique has long been viewed as dishonourable, and as such is discouraged by the Jedi; however, from my experience, I view it as a reasonable and necessary technique to use."

"Their staves are also resistant to lightsaber attacks, though sustained force can damage them. They also have a point right below the head where sustained force will behead it, killing the creature." Kam indicated the point with his hand, then activated his lightsaber and slowly brought it into position, beheading the holographic snake.

Kam continued on for another twenty minutes, describing each of the weapons he had seen and how to counter them, and describing and demonstrating several of the techniques he had seen the warriors used. He finished off theorizing what techniques to be used against them.

"These Yuuzhan Vong are very fast, but many of their movements also rely on strength. To combat them, speed, strength and agility are needed, as well as strategy. I believe that, though Form II, Makashi, may seem the obvious technique to use, their strength and difficult-to-predict techniques will make it ineffective. Form III, Soresu, is an excellent defense, but as their techniques are unpredictable it will not do on its own. Therefore, I would recommend a combination of Soresu, Form IV, Ataru, and Form V, Djem So, be used to combat them. Above all, when fighting them, do not expect them to fight like the enemies we are used to encountering. Stay mobile, unpredictable, and focused. May the Force be with you." Kam inclined his head, and the recording finished.

* * *

"Where are we heading to now, Master?" Ahsoka asked. She, Anakin, and Obi-Wan stood on the bridge of a Republic Cruiser, watching the crew prepare to jump to hyperspace. Skyguy had been very secretive about what this mission would be.

Anakin turned to her, very serious. "Have you heard about our new arrangement with the Separatists?"

Ahsoka made a face. "Yes."

"And the military arrangement?" He received a blank look. "We are accepting a liaison between our forces and the Separatist forces, who will allow both sides to coordinate on at least a rudimentary level. We are going to pick him up."

"Pick him up? Where is he from?"

"We have no idea," Obi-Wan said. "All we know is his name, and that Dooku recommended him."

"Great, a Separatist," Ahsoka grumbled.

* * *

Mitth'raw'nuruodo, otherwise known as Thrawn, bowed his head respectfully as the hologram appeared in front of him.

"It goes well?" The intimidating figure asked.

"Yes, my lord," he replied. "Count Dooku and General Grievous are doing an excellent job preparing their forces for this new threat. I look forward to meeting the Republic representatives, and examining the captured pilot and ship."

"Indeed," Darth Sidious replied. "I expect you to do your job well. Ensure that you present your plan to me when you have enough information to form one."

"Yes, my lord."

* * *

"Well, we're here," Anakin commented. The Republic ships had pulled out of hyperspace into the system. The place where the liaison had requested they meet was a system in the outer rim, with one habitable planet whose government was loosely aligned with the Separatists, though they had no presence there.

"And so is our friend," Obi-Wan replied. Anakin looked, and saw that a medium-sized ship had appeared out of hyperspace, to the right side of their cruiser's current orientation.

The comm crackled, transmitting a signal from the ship.

"Greetings, Republic vessels," said the smooth, cultured voice issuing from the comm. Anakin noted the accent, a strange yet elegant one that he had never heard before. "This is military liaison Mitth'raw'nuruodo requesting permission to come aboard."

"Greetings, Mitth'raw'nuruodo," Obi-Wan said. Anakin could practically hear the wince at the other end from his former Master's atrocious mispronunciation of the name. "This is Republic General Obi-Wan Kenobi. Permission is granted."

"Thank you. Perhaps it would be better for you to call me Thrawn," the voice suggested.

Anakin sniggered slightly. Obi-Wan gestured to a crew member, who began to send landing instructions to Thrawn's ship.

"Let's go meet our friend, shall we?" Obi-Wan suggested. The three Jedi turned and walked out of the bridge.

In the hanger, the ship landed and the ramp extended. Anakin and Obi-Wan watched the ramp, Ahsoka standing a respectful step behind and to the side of Anakin.

A humanoid of a species none of them recognized walked down the ramp. Most of his features were normal, but there were two startling differences. For one thing, his skin was a deep shade of blue.

And the other, far more startling, was that his eyes were red and glowing.

"Greetings," Obi-Wan said. "I am General Obi-Wan Kenobi. This is General Anakin Skywalker and Commander Ahsoka Tano."

Thrawn opened his mouth to reply – and abruptly the ship shook as an alarm blazed.

"General!" came a call on the comm. "Please report to the bridge immediately. We are under attack from the Yuuzhan Vong."

"Well, that was quick," Obi-Wan remarked. "Would you like to accompany us to the bridge?"

"Certainly," Thrawn replied.

They were about halfway to the bridge when an explosion rocked the ship, throwing all of them off their feet.

**What do you think? Thrawn is definitely one of my top three favourite characters – and my favourite villain(ish) person. Idk, I don't view him as an extreme villain like some of the others, and since this is my fanfic, maybe I can even make him a good guy :) . The Yuuzhan Vong as a whole are a close second as far as the favourite villain thing goes.**

**Thrawn awesomeness coming up! Review please!**


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry for the (very) late update. I've had a lot going on for the past couple months.

Incoming Thrawn awesomeness! This chapter describes a battle in a lot of detail, so if that bores you…well, you've been warned.

I don't own anything of star wars, except possibly the OCs.

The four scrambled back to their feet as alarms sounded throughout the ship.

"Ahsoka, go with Obi-Wan to the bridge," Anakin ordered, whipping out his commlink to tell R2 to meet him at his fighter. Anakin raced back the way they had come as Obi-Wan, Ahsoka and Thrawn hurried to the bridge.

"What is the situation, Captain?" Obi-Wan asked, as they entered, his tone polite as ever.

"The cruiser took some damage, General," the captain replied. "The shields have been re-established, but several of the gun turrets were hit, though our major systems remain mostly undamaged. One of the other cruisers has also been damaged and cannot release fighters."

Obi-Wan looked out the viewscreen, noting the swarms of coral that now opposed them. He counted four ships that seemed similar in size to a Republic capital ship, several mid-sized ships, and at least four squadrons of starfighters. Republic starfighters had already been launched and were engaging the Yuuzhan Vong.

"Have the cruisers fall back and prepare to enter hyperspace," Obi-Wan ordered. Two of the cruisers were moving forward under cover fire from the other pair. "Red and Delta squadrons, engage the cruisers that are advancing."

"General," Thrawn said, his tone crisp and professional as he examined a status board and the looked out the viewscreen in turns, "I recommend having Delta squadron engage the leftmost ship while Red squadron keeps the starfighters busy so that Omega squadron can use a flanking maneuver, catching the left ship in a pincher between the two squadrons."

Obi-Wan felt a hint of surprise. "That would engage our starfighters so that we could not pull out quickly."

"Yes, but if that ship is damaged, the commander will have the other three ships engage the squadrons, allowing our ships to spread out and move in and giving us a positional advantage so that we can destroy their fleet."

Obi-Wan stared for a moment. Given the situation, the strategy seemed foolhardy, as any reasonable commander would take advantage of the weak point created in their defence by the movement of Omega squadron to destroy the other starfighters and advance on the capital ships.

However, Thrawn exuded only certainty and skill into the Force, without any doubt colouring his impression…and in the background, the Force whispered to trust the strange tactician.

Obi-Wan sighed. "Very well." Turning to the captain, he ordered that Thrawn's orders be followed.

Delta squadron moved forward and engaged the designated enemy capital ship, while Red moved forward from defending the capital ships to engage the enemy starfighters. Omega broke off from its dogfighting and formed up, moving to flank the enemy capital ship.

Obi-Wan's comm crackled. "What are you doing, Master?" the young Knight demanded. "Why did you order our ships to advance?"

"Not me," Obi-Wan replied. "Our new ally. The Force suggested that I trust his strategy."

Obi-Wan heard some muttered grumbling over the comm, and watched Anakin's bright yellow starfighter (because of course Anakin always had to paint his starfighter yellow) engage the enemy starfighters. Then Anakin moved forward to join Delta squadron in harassing the enemy ship. Anakin might not approve of the strategy, but he was always quick to join in any foolhardy plan.

Omega finished its maneuver and attacked the ship from one side while Delta attacked from the other. Under the concentrated firepower of two of the Republic's best squadrons, the anomalies shielding the enemy ship were quickly overwhelmed, and the ship quickly started to take damage.

As the ship took damage, Thrawn ordered the Republic's cruisers to move forward rather than retreat. As Obi-Wan had thought, the other ship of the pair that was advancing quickly went to attack the Republic ships…and then, to his surprise, the other two ships also began to advance. The enemy ships had, for some reason, broken formation.

Thrawn had seen it too. His glowing eyes regarded the viewscreen, and then he turned to the captain.

"Have Delta and Omega squadrons disengage," Thrawn ordered, ordering them to engage one of the two capital ships that were originally providing cover fire.

Obi-Wan felt another surge of surprise. Thrawn was now leaving a ship that, though damaged, may still have offensive capability, and now two of their squadrons would be effectively trapped between enemy capital ships. Taking a deep breath, Obi-Wan focused on his trust in the Force rather than scepticism at Thrawn's tactics.

Obi-Wan watched as the squadrons engaged the capital ship. The other enemy squadrons and an additional capital ship engaged the two Republic squadrons, trapping the Republic squadrons in a crossfire. Obi-Wan cringed, sure that the squadrons were about to be eliminated…

And then Thrawn ordered that another Republic squadron pull out from the starfighter battle and engage the capital ships, just as the Republic capital ships got into range. Thrawn ordered the capital ships to open fire, directing the two trapped squadrons to switch to another enemy capital ship…

And Obi-Wan watched as the enemy fleet fell apart. The trapped squadrons hit a subtle weak spot exposed by the movement of the enemy ships, breaking out of the trap. The other Republic squadrons and the Republic capital ships hammered into the ships as the escaping squadrons turned to reengage, catching the enemy in a pincher movement. The enemy ships, already damaged as the starfighters had rapidly switched targets, quickly sustained damage and stopped firing back, and the enemy starfighters were quickly destroyed by the starfighters that Thrawn had ordered to positions that, though seemingly useless a few moments before, were now perfectly positioned to mop them up.

Within minutes the small Republic fleet had secured a complete victory over the numerically and tactically superior fleet of a mostly-unknown race.

Obi-Wan heard a whistle behind him from Ahsoka. He completely agreed with the assessment.

A few minutes later, Anakin came striding onto the bridge. Obi-Wan turned to greet him. The young Knight seemed brimming with confidence, having shot down numerous enemy starfighters and disabled one of the capital ships. Anakin nodded in response to Obi-Wan's greeting before fixing his eyes on Thrawn.

"Interesting tactics. Very effective." He complemented the other.

"Thank you," Thrawn replied.

"However," Anakin continued, "when we were first attacked, you didn't seem at all surprised. In fact, you seemed like you were expecting the attack. You knew that the enemy would attack, didn't you?"

Thrawn fixed Anakin with his steady, unflinching gaze, despite Anakin's aggressiveness. "I suspected, from examining the pattern of attacks, that this system would be a target."

"So you led us right into the attack?" Anakin demanded. Obi-Wan looked between them thoughtfully. Thrawn was difficult to read through the Force, but indeed he hadn't seemed at all surprised.

"I suspected an attack," Thrawn repeated. "The attacking fleet would not be large though, judging by the pattern of prior attacks. I also knew that the Republic would send a significant attachment and at least one Jedi, and suspected that Generals Kenobi and Skywalker would be sent, and with them the Republic's most experienced troops as well. There would thus be a large enough fleet to engage the Yuuzhan Vong fleet, a tactical situation that would allow us to be victorious and learn about our enemies, remains from Yuuzhan Vong ships to examine and learn from, and a system that otherwise would not be able to defend itself kept from becoming a resource for the Yuuzhan Vong. Thus, a victory."

Anakin seemed speechless. Obi-Wan sent him a quick warning look, then turned to Thrawn.

"While we would prefer to know of attacks in the future, your tactical skill has certainly been established. We look forward to working with you in the future." Giving Thrawn a nod, Obi-Wan glanced at Anakin and then turned, Anakin following behind him, to report to the Council.

* * *

The Council was suitably impressed, and the fleet quickly returned to Coruscant. There, Thrawn met with the Senate, Jedi Council, and various parts of the Republic's military organizations, as well as having several private meetings with the Supreme Chancellor. Through his work, agreements were worked out and communications established between various parts of the Republic and Separatist military forces, particularly in areas beset by the Yuuzhan Vong threat.

Obi-Wan and Anakin left after only a few days, returning to the front lines of the new war between the Yuuzhan Vong and Republic, accompanied by Ediir Kam, whom had made a full recovery according to the healers. Within the space of a month, the three of them, as well as Padawan Ahsoka, had fought numerous battles just as fierce and bloody as the worst of the battles with the Separatists.

Indeed, several of them had been fought side by side with the Separatists.

Already they seemed to be establishing a reputation. On the planets that they fought in ground combat, their lightsabers were now greeted by exceptionally ferocious snarls and battle cries, as well as shouts of '_Jeedai_!' The Vong seemed to view taking a Jedi down as an extreme honour, which meant that any foes would immediately focus on the Jedi – something that they had taken advantage of many times before.

However, this battle had taken a turn for the worst. Anakin, Obi-Wan, Ediir and Ahsoka were engaged in ground combat on the small planet of Iroon, known for its mysterious and strange landscapes. The enemy force, much larger than anticipated, drove the Republic back in the furious ground battle. Though still dominated the skies for the time being, Iroon's landscape of tall, bizzare trees that created ghostly grey webs above the ground, floating warrens of strange objects that the Jedi couldn't quite classify, and seeping, faded mists that hovered and swirled in strange patterns prevented the Republic fleet from making full use of its air power.

Now, fighting desperately, the Jedi were being forced away from their rendezvous, deeper into the warren of ghostly trees that had an odd effect of scrambling communications. The four of them, in tune with the Force, fought as a team, holding at bay the spaces of nothingness in the Force that were their enemies.

And then suddenly, Obi-Wan had an uneasy feeling, the hairs on the back of his neck prickling. Glancing at his companions, he could tell that they seemed suddenly uneasy as well.

Turning, he searched the trees with the Force, and scanned with his eyes. His senses found the cause of their sudden uneasiness, and the warning that was now shuddering through the Force.

And he knew they were in trouble.

Again, sorry it took so long to update! I've been busy and lost motivation on this story. Don't worry, though, I'm not going to abandon it.

If you think I'm taking too long to update (read: more than a week), feel free to PM and nag me to keep writing.

This chapter had a lot of description of that one space battle, which I know can get boring. Sorry about that…the point was to showcase how innovating and adaptive Thrawn is, and how well he can read his enemies. He's not prescient, but he frequently seems to be


	8. Chapter 8

"What are those things?" Ahsoka gasped, raising her lightsabers to guard position.

Obi-Wan didn't know. The creatures they faced were unlike any he had seen before. Each was a metre tall and several metres long. They reminded him of dragons with their yellow eyes, scaly skin, razor-sharp fangs and long tails. Each creature also had long, sharp claws and barbs on its tail that glistened slightly in Iroon's dusky light.

Strangest of all, though, was the way they felt in the Force. Unlike every other Yuuzhan Vong creature they had encountered, they had Force signatures – which swirled with the unerring focus and determination of a hunter. What sent him staggering, however, was the fact that these creatures seemed to have locked onto their prey not only through their hunter's senses, but also through the Force.

These creatures were Force-sensitive.

And now half a dozen of them approached the group of Jedi in a semicircle, each with several Yuuzhan Vong behind them – handlers, Obi-Wan guessed.

One of these handlers bared his teeth at the Jedi and, seemingly in response to Ahsoka's question, stated, "Voxyn, _Jeedai_."

The voxyn approached slowly as the Jedi carefully backed away. All of the foes they had been fighting had also backed off, leaving the Jedi to face these new creatures.

Obi-Wan carefully watched the voxyn, aware of his companions doing the same, and reached out through the Force, seeking to use his affinity with animals to get them to back off. His efforts were fruitless, however, and seemed to aggravate the creature he was focused on.

It opened its mouth…and screeched.

Each of the Jedi staggered from the overwhelming sonic blast. Obi-Wan suddenly could barely hear anything – clearly his hearing had been damaged. The blast also seemed to be paralyzing, as his balance was suddenly off and he could not properly control his limbs. He reached into the Force, and felt some feeling restored – just in time to raise his lightsaber as the voxyn attacked.

He could immediately tell that, though he and Anakin had managed to shake off the paralysis, Ediir and Ahsoka were having more difficulty. Anakin raised his hand, as did Obi-Wan, and the pair sent off a powerful wave of Force-energy designed to throw the creatures back.

The Yuuzhan Vong handlers, of course, were unaffected…and the voxyn were only sent staggering back a few steps, rather than the several dozen metres that they should have been.

Clearly they were resistant to Force attacks, as well.

The voxyn charged again, but luckily their distraction had provided enough time for Ahsoka and Ediir to recover. The four Jedi raised their blades in unison, and then each dodged in a different direction as each of the half-dozen voxyn leapt at where a Jedi had been.

Obi-Wan landed and turned to face the creatures, as two of the voxyn also spun to face him. He could see that another two voxyn were also focused on Anakin, while Ediir and Ahsoka each faced one. One of the voxyn facing him opened its mouth, and Obi-Wan dodged to the side, anticipating another sonic attack – but instead a stream of a thick, brown substance cut through the air where he had been standing. A few droplets still managed to land on him, burning almost instantly through his robes and searing into his skin.

An acid attack, then.

Obi-Wan opened his mouth to warn his companions, but the other voxyn lunged as he did so, and Obi-Wan was forced to duck out of the way of its claws as it slashed viciously at him. He lunged with his lightsaber as he did so, leaving a long burn mark across the creature's side. The lightsaber didn't dig in as deeply as he expected, however, suggesting that the voxyn's skin was also lightsaber-resistant, though not to the degree that the warrior's armour was.

Blast!

He dodged again, ducking under the claws of the second creature and intersecting a long tail with his lightsaber. The voxyn quickly pulled its tail away before his lightsaber could sever it and attacked again, as the second voxyn moved to his other side and attacked low as the first slashed for his head. Dear Force, these creatures even had a sense of strategy.

He foiled their attempt at trapping him by diving sideways, getting out of their box – and conveniently driving his lightsaber into the side of one of the creatures attacking Anakin, who was distracted as he used the Force to throw a boulder at the voxyn attacking Ahsoka, who had sustained a minor would and stumbled for a moment. Obi-Wan's lightsaber drove half a metre into the voxyn, before Obi-Wan quickly deactivated it – rather than waste time withdrawing it – and activated it again as he spun to block an attack from the voxyn that had been attacking Ediir, which had switched places with one of the ones that had been attacking Obi-Wan.

Even as he blocked that blow, the voxyn that he thought he had killed staggered to its feet and raked its claws across his back before Anakin drove its lightsaber into its head. The cuts on his back burned, and Obi-Wan nearly used some of Anakin's favourite curse words as he felt something else take hold in his wound – some type of poison or virus, perhaps. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to draw on the Force and figure out what it was, as two voxyn simultaneously lunged at him.

Dodging out of the way, he saw another voxyn open its mouth to spit acid at Anakin. Suddenly getting an idea, he used the Force to shove another voxyn to a position behind Anakin. He sensed Anakin catching on, and Anakin stayed in place until the last possible instant. Just as acid emerged from the voxyn's mouth, Anakin dropped prone to the ground, and the acid hit the voxyn behind Anakin squarely in the face. Obi-Wan lunged forward, beheading the voxyn that had been hit by the acid as Anakin lunged from his prone position and buried his lightsaber into the spitting voxyn's throat.

Three down, three to go.

The four managed to take down the remaining three voxyn, though by the end of it each had sustained several, fairly serious wounds. The handlers attacked once the voxyn were down – Obi-Wan got the impression that they had been observing, and possibly recording, the fight in order to see how effective the voxyn were against Jedi. Unfortunately, they were extremely effective.

More warriors now engaged the wounded jedi, and the four were driven back into the jungle, away from the Republic forces that battled on against the Yuuzhan Vong warriors. Soon the Jedi were completely isolated, deep in the forest and harassed by warriors and individual voxyn, which they quickly discovered could hide their presence in the Force in order to sneak up on the Jedi.

The situation was not looking good.

* * *

On the Separatist homeworld of Raxis, Count Dooku was engaged in a strategy meeting with several Separatist military tacticians, desperately working out strategies to stop the Yuuzhan Vong invasion into Separatist space. The Yuuzhan Vong, though they had viciously attacked both the Separatists and the Republic, seemed to be particularly focused on defeating the Separatists. Count Dooku knew of their hatred of non-organic technology, and so believed that their focus was in part due to the Separatist's use of droids as their main military force, but he also knew of other possible strategic motives.

Now, as he listened to reports from the tacticians, Dooku had to acknowledge that the Separatists were in a very bad position. The Yuuzhan Vong had managed to capture large swaths of Separatist space with relative ease, and now controlled about a tenth of Separatist territory. The planets that they were attacking were relatively unfortified, as the Separatists had not needed to fortify them against the Republic. However, though protected from Republic assault by their position at the opposite side of Separatist space from the Republic, their position was now their greatest weakness.

Dooku frowned slightly as he considered this. He was beginning to suspect from their conversations that Palpatine had known of the Yuuzhan Vong, though Palpatine had been caught off guard by the timing of their assault. That raised major issues in Dooku's mind. Palpatine had known, _known_, about the Yuuzhan Vong, and had even known that they would attack the galaxy, and yet he had wasted the galaxy's military might in a civil war designed to destroy the Jedi and give the Sith power. While Dooku recognized that the victor would be able to build a very strong military, there were still other ways to gain power that would have been better suited to dealing with the extragalactic threat.

What also upset Dooku was that Sidious had never mentioned the Yuuzhan Vong or any possibility of a galactic invasion in their conversations. Even though Sidious had clearly not expected them to invade for some decades, Dooku thought that it still would have been prudent to set up some defenses, to stop military scouts or counter an early probe by the Yuuzhan Vong.

Sidious, Dooku concluded, had definitely not expected the Yuuzhan Vong to invade now, but decades in the future, and had been certain in that expectation. The fact that he didn't pass that knowledge onto Dooku showed that he didn't expect Dooku to ever become the new Master of the Sith and have to defend the galaxy against such a threat – which told Dooku more clearly than ever that Sidious planned to betray and replace him.

And the way things were going, that betrayal could simply be military. Several of Sidious' orders had put the Separatists, and Dooku's resources, squarely into the path of the new invasion. Though Dooku appreciated the value of a military sacrifice play, he didn't appreciate being that sacrifice. And now Sidous' skill in strategy and planning were being called into question.

He would have to think long and hard about his response to this.

* * *

Silver desperately yanked the stick, sending his fighter into a spin to avoid several bursts of plasma. Below them, the forests of Iroon were rapidly collecting craters and small patches of fire from where lasers, plasma, and missiles struck the tall trees and the misty ground beneath. Behind Silver, several coralskippers spat out plasma, coordinating in an attempt to make him dodge into their fire.

Silver dodged again, the maneuver slowed by air resistance, and a plasma missile just clipped one wing, giving his fighter superficial damage.

He hated atmospheric fighting.

Sending his fighter into another tricky maneuver, he managed to get behind the group of coralskippers and, with diverging lasers, shoot past the voids of one of them to damage the structure of the coralskipper. That craft went into an uncontrollable dive, impacting against the surface of the planets.

Silver took a moment to scan the surface of the planet below them – or what he could see through the trees. It wasn't looking good.

One of the other members of Silver's squadron can on the comm. "Has anyone seen the generals? I can't see them anywhere."

Frowning, Silver surveyed the ground with both his eyes and instruments. Sure enough, he couldn't see the glow of lightsabers anywhere near the fighting – though again, both his eyes and instruments were impeded by the trees.

"Negative," Silver said into the comm. "Can't find them."

"Do you think they need support?" another member of the squadron asked.

Nobody knew. Communications were made very difficult by the trees, so the generals wouldn't be able to call if they needed air support.

And now they didn't seem to be anywhere near the main fighting, and so were either separated or dead, on a planet swarming with the toughest, fastest fighters that Silver had ever seen – with the possible exception of the Jedi themselves, of course.

But the Jedi had mentioned once that they couldn't feel the enemy through the Force like they could with other enemies – even droids.

Silver had a bad feeling about this.

**Hey everyone! I am so sorry about how late this update was. Hopefully you enjoyed the chapter, though.**

**Reviews would be nice! (If only to lecture me about how late the chapter was)**


	9. Chapter 9

"There!" Anakin whispered, gesturing towards a nearby stand of trees with his lightsaber.

Obi-Wan prepared himself. This particular voxyn had been hunting them relentlessly, attacking and then retreating before they could take it down, and had been slowly wearing them down. Now they had finally managed to lure it close enough to take it down and halt its relentless stalking.

Ediir and Ahsoka backed away as Anakin and Obi-Wan approached the trees, taking care not to startle the beast. Ediir and Ahsoka were the worst off of the group, Ahsoka with a slashing wound from a voxyn's tail that had partially paralyzed her nervous system, rendering her moves sluggish, and Ediir with a broken arm and several puncture wounds from where a voxyn had tackled him. Obi-Wan and Anakin, though also wounded, had more experience with using the Force to sustain and heal themselves – though Obi-Wan realized that it was these efforts that allowed the voxyn to so easily track them.

Working in perfect harmony, Obi-Wan and Anakin casually walked through the clearing, taking care not to approach directly and thus startle the voxyn. Once they were only a few metres away from the stand of trees and boulders behind which the voxyn crouched, unseen, they slowed.

And then, on some silent signal that none of the others could detect, lunged, Anakin going directly for the voxyn while Obi-Wan leapt to cut off its escape.

In moments, the pair added another voxyn to the number they had already killed.

"What number is that, Master?" Anakin asked.

"Eleven, I think," Obi-Wan answered wearily.

The two rejoined Ediir and Ahsoka, trudging away from the battle as quickly as they could. They were still being stalked by a large force of Yuuzhan Vong, but there were no more voxyn near enough for them to sense. As their enemy was deprived of that tracking advantage, the Jedi sought to outmaneuver them and make a large loop around the Yuuzhan Vong to rejoin the Republic troops.

Obi-Wan was privately skeptical about rejoining the troops in time, though. It had been several hours since they had first been separated from the troops, and from what he recalled the ground troops had been heavily beset by numerically superior Vong forces. If the Yuuzhan Vong forces had managed to achieve air superiority, it would only be a matter of time before the Republic forces had to retreat or be destroyed.

Obi-Wan monitored the troops as best he could through the Force, but the Yuuzhan Vong tracking them were skilled and the Jedi were still being driven away from the Republic forces, unable to rejoin them.

Some time later Anakin interrupted his thoughts. "I can't sense any voxyn or the voids created by the Vong through the Force for well over a kilometer, Master," he whispered, in a low tone to keep his voice from carrying. "I think we could take a quick break and give the others a chance to recover a bit."

Obi-Wan stretched out his senses and confirmed Anakin's assessment of their pursuers distance, and the group wearily sat on a group of low boulders at the base of one of the trees. Using medical supplies from the small packs that each of them now carried whenever they entered a ground battle, each of them treated their assortment of wounds as best they could. Obi-Wan noted, however, that the viruses or pathogens that had coated the paws of the voxyn that had slashed him were highly resistant to the antibiotics, and resigned himself to a meditative trance later to get rid of them. Luckily, though each of the others had suffered minor wounds from the voxyn's claws as well, none of them had picked up any of the viruses.

Obi-Wan again extended himself carefully into the Force, reaching towards the Republic troops…and sighed. Anakin looked towards him questioningly.

"The Vong have driven them into retreat," Obi-Wan answered. "They're all evacuating the planet and fleeing to hyperspace."

The four Jedi were silent. They were on their own.

A few minutes later, Anakin got to his feet. "We'd better get moving," he said. The others agreed, and everyone started walking again.

Obi-Wan carefully monitored the Force for more of the voxyn while Anakin paid attention to their immediate surroundings. Though Anakin's range now surpassed Obi-Wan's, they had quickly learned that the voxyn could detect it when a Jedi sensed them – but Obi-Wan's Force senses had the delicacy that Anakin's did not, and though the voxyn could detect his touch, they couldn't trace it as easily as they could Anakin's. And neither Ediir nor Ahsoka had the skill in the Force to detect the voxyn when they hid their presence in the Force.

To his relief, there were no voxyn for at least ten kilometres and the Yuuzhan Vong seemed to have lost their trail. The strange terrain of Iroon meant that they weren't leaving many signs behind them, and so the Vong had lost the scent. Nonetheless, the Jedi kept moving.

An hour later, Obi-Wan called for another rest. At this point all of them were beginning to struggle due to exhaustion and injury. After checking to make sure that no voxyn were nearby – otherwise they would be drawn to the Jedi by the heavy Force usage – they decided to take turns in a healing trance, with one serving as lookout. To add some safety, they climbed up one of the trees in the grove they were in – each of the trees was several hundred metres high and had a canopy just as wide, and the trees were so close that in some places the branches were woven together into what was almost a floor. Now, hidden as safely as was possible on their platform sixty metres above the ground, out of sight of any enemies below, they dropped into healing trances. Anakin, predictably, volunteered to take the first watch duty, staying alert with senses both physical and Force for any approaching enemies.

They stayed there for several hours, until Anakin picked up a voxyn on the edge of his perceptions and they decided to move on. Noticing how thick the canopy was, however, they decided to travel through the trees instead of on the ground. Anakin and Obi-Wan figured that they could probably travel at least ten kilometres before they had to come down, the trees were so close together.

"So what's the plan?" Anakin asked Obi-Wan quietly as they walked along a branch three metres wide. He allowed his gaze to wander over the branches around them. Each branch was a mixture of varied shades of grey, with no leaves in sight. The branches grew together in what almost seemed to be webs, with pockets of mist hovering randomly throughout the canopy. Anakin had to admit that the trees had a strange, mysterious beauty – almost delicate, despite the thickness and obvious strength and age of the trunks and branches.

"I thought you were the one with the plan," Obi-Wan replied.

"I'm good at the destroy-things-and-save-the-day plans," Anakin retorted easily. "I leave it to you, O Wise Master, to figure this mess out."

"Yes, well," Obi-Wan sighed, "At the moment, I'm a little short of ideas."

He paused in thought. "I suppose, since all the Republic ships have left, we have to find some Vong ships and see if we can find a way to pilot them off Iroon."

"And that would require us to find and break into a Yuuzhan Vong base, facing most likely a large garrison and all sorts of bizarre defences," Anakin reminded him.

Obi-Wan couldn't help but grin. "Yes, and that is where we'll need one of _your_ chaotic and mayhem-causing plans," he responded. Anakin grinned in reply, taking this as a compliment.

Taking another break, they stretched out their senses together, strengthening each other, and found a large empty spot in the Force with plenty of voxyn around it. "That would be the base," Anakin remarked.

Heading in that direction, Anakin and Obi-Wan discussed plans to break into the base. There were at least thirty voxyn near the base, and from the size of the emptiness in the Force likely hundreds of Yuuzhan Vong. The pair acknowledged that they wouldn't be able to fight through that many and still have time to figure out the controls on completely alien ships. Plus, each of them was still wounded and exhausted from the travelling, encounters with warriors and voxyn, and the injuries they had sustained. Plus they could now feel voxyn and warriors searching the forest, no doubt hunting for them.

Which could mean only one thing as far as the Jedi were concerned.

Guerilla warfare.

"So could you explain this plan to us, Masters?" Ahsoka asked.

Anakin beat Obi-Wan to the explanation. "The base contains too many Yuuzhan Vong for us to fight through them and get a ship, so we need to whittle down their numbers. We'll use guerilla attacks to wipe out as many of the Vong – and voxyn – as we can. Then we need to quickly break into the base before their inevitable reinforcements arrive, steal a ship, and fly off this rock." Obi-Wan nodded in agreement with Anakin's assessment.

A pause while each of them turned over the plan in their mind. Then:

"Let's do it," Ediir said with a grin.

Silver paced the small pilot's break room, his mind churning furiously with his thoughts.

He had not been able to believe it when the retreat order had come in. Sure, the Yuuzhan Vong had suddenly pulled out a fleet of starfighters seemingly from nowhere, and had managed to negate the Republic's air advantage. From a tactical point of view, he fully understood and agreed with the orders. Had they not pulled out, they undoubtedly would have been destroyed by the suddenly overwhelming ground and air forces of the Yuuzhan Vong.

And yet, in retreating, they had abandoned their Jedi Generals.

Not just one, but three of them, as well as a Jedi Commander. Silver didn't know Ediir Kam very well, but he had fought alongside Anakin Skywalker numerous times against both Separatists and Vong, had watched General Kenobi turn battles around with clever strategies and prevent battles with his powers of negotiation, and had laughed with Ahsoka Tano at the end of several harrowing skirmishes. He had also born witness to General Skywalker's crazy plans that almost always seemed to work, and been awed by the sheer prowess and skill of the Kenobi-Skywalker team in combat.

He knew that the pair would not just lay down and die, and they wouldn't let Kam or Tano die either. Which meant that they were now stranded on a planet with hundreds of starfighters and other ships, thousands of warriors, and most likely dozens of the strange dragon-like creatures that the escaped ground troops said gave the Jedi huge problems.

Silver knew and respected each of the Jedi, and he couldn't just leave them to die, regardless of orders. And he knew that many of his brothers felt the same.

Making up his mind, he sent a message on his comlink asking all the members of his squad to meet in a small, out-of-the-way storage room.

A few minutes later, he looked at his squadmates: his commander Ace, his closest brother Zed, and the other eight brothers that made up his squad. All of them were top-rated pilots in the Republic fleet, but they had also proven their worth in numerous ground battles. Indeed, ground or air they were one of the finest squads in the Republic, and they were one of the only heavy-combat squads that hadn't lost a single member, an enduring testament to their skill.

Carefully framing his words, he explained his assessment of the situation and his desire to do something to help the Jedi. And was unsurprised when he received a completely unanimous agreement with his idea, even from Scree, a brother that was normally a stickler for the rules.

Working together, they came up with a plan: they would take one of the shuttles that was a prototype for a design that maximized stealth and would allow Republic operatives to infiltrate planets held by the Yuuzhan Vong. Ghost, the computer specialist in their squad, would create false orders to allow them to leave the ship. They would then jump to hyperspace and, upon coming out of it, would do their best to get onto the planet unnoticed – carrying, of course, enough ordinance for a small army.

All of them were aware that what they were doing could be construed as treason and they ran the risk of facing court-martial if they returned. However, each of them had fought alongside the Jedi generals at one point or another, and several owed their lives to General Skywalker's crazy plans or General Kenobi's healing skills. And each of them would no longer leave the generals behind then leave one of their brothers.

In complete agreement, they split up to fulfill their assigned tasks.

**Freshly edited! I mainly just made minor edits to things that bugged me, but I think the chapter is a lot better for it.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey everyone! I'm really sorry for the late update, but as an apology this chapter is longer than normal. Enjoy!**

**I do not own Star Wars or anything that you recognize. **

Obi-Wan, crouched on the limb of a tree, glanced over at Anakin in a silent request for confirmation of his readiness. After receiving a quick nod, he gestured to Ahsoka, who drew her lightsaber and quickly the lowest branches of the tree, climbing as she did so to free over a dozen.

As soon as each branch was cut, Obi-Wan and Anakin caught it with the Force, straining to hold each heavy limb in the exact same position it had been in prior to meeting Ahsoka's lightsaber so that to a quick glance nothing was different about the tree.

Ediir stood in the clearing below, lightsaber drawn and facing the direction in which six voxyn and twenty warriors prowled. The Yuuzhan Vong had stepped up the size of their search parties after the first few had gone missing, prompting the Jedi to try new tactics.

Reaching out to the Force, Ediir cast his mind in the area surrounding them, touching the minds of the voxyn already made tense by Obi-Wan and Anakin's Force use. Feeling his touch on their minds, and able to trace it even more easily than Anakin and Obi-Wan's efforts, he felt their predatory instincts kick in as they started moving rapidly towards him.

His grip on his lightsaber slightly sweaty from pain and nervousness, Ediir watched the voxyn and their handlers appear a hundred metres off through the trees. Catching sight of a lone, injured Jedi backing slowly away, they raced towards him, screaming loud battle cries in their guttural language.

Ediir ignited his lightsaber, letting his hand tremble slightly. As more and more warriors appeared, he allowed a slightly panicked expression to cross his face – at this point it wasn't hard to feign – and started backing away even more rapidly.

The voxyn reached him several seconds before their handlers. Ediir dodged their attacks, giving the handlers a chance to catch up and foolishly cluster around him – and then drew on the Force for an enormous leap, catching onto some handholds on the side of a tree that Ahsoka had carved earlier and desperately clinging as several tons of branches fell past him and straight onto the group of Yuuzhan Vong and voxyn.

He let himself fall to the ground as Obi-Wan, Anakin and Ahsoka dropped to join him, Obi-Wan heading over to the pile of branches and giving a mercy cut to a voxyn whose rear half had been crushed by the branches. After checking to make sure none of the others were still alive, Obi-Wan walked back over to the group, offering a compliment to Ediir on his perfect setup of the trap.

Even as he spoke the Jedi started briskly walking once more, seeking to get well away from the scene before any more Vong arrived. After putting a kilometre between them and the dead Yuuzhan Vong, they climbed another tree for a quick rest.

"They'll probably stop sending out patrols pretty soon," Obi-Wan commented quietly to Anakin. "Any ideas on what to do then?"

"We have significantly whittled down their numbers," Anakin replied in a voice just as quiet. "I think if we might stand a chance at taking down the base now if we attack. Best to do it sooner rather than later anyway, before reinforcements arrive."

Obi-Wan nodded in agreement, as the two began devising their strategy.

They had taken down about a hundred warriors and several dozen voxyn through their guerilla tactics, whittling the Yuuzhan Vong numbers down to a force that was still greatly numerically superior but was also manageable with some sneaky tactics. The base itself was in a large, area the Yuuzhan Vong had cleared of trees and bushes, and consisted of a large organic…building, for lack of a better word, several smaller buildings, and an area that held several dozen ships of various sizes. The Jedi, now returning to their spot in a tree about a kilometre away, could faintly see through the branches to where a number of Yuuzhan Vong and voxyn scuttled around the base.

Now they took the opportunity to look through the stack of weaponry formerly wielded by their foes. The amphistaffs had refused to cooperate, attacking the Jedi whenever they approached, so they had none of them.

They still possessed an impressive arsenal. They had numerous bandoliers of the thud bugs as well as dozens of unreleased razor bugs. Kept well apart from the others were several bandoliers of a third type of bug, one that resembled the thud bugs closely but exploded violently when they struck a target. They had not been used against the Jedi despite the warriors possessing them, which suggested to Obi-Wan that the Yuuzhan Vong wanted at least one of them alive, as the explosion was definitely enough to kill. Indeed, the Jedi had only realized their purpose when Anakin had accidentally released one, blasting a good chunk out of a nearby tree. The Jedi had dubbed them blast bugs.

They also possessed several organic flasks of a jelly-like substance, dubbed firejelly, that caught fire very easily. The Jedi planned to use this substance, combined with the blast bugs, to distract and separate the warriors.

Now they used threads from their damaged outer tunics to securely tie the flasks to rocks picked up off the ground. The rocks would allow them to use the Force to throw the flasks that they otherwise could not carry. Obi-Wan cautiously did the same with a dozen of the blast bugs.

Having completed their task, the Jedi each took their share of the captured weaponry and went to their assigned points surrounding the base, creeping through the trees so as not to be seen. Once in place, each waited for the sun to set. The battle had taken place the previous morning, and none of the Jedi had slept since; they were hoping that this battle would not sap their remaining strength too dramatically.

They were hoping, once the base had been sufficiently decimated, to capture one of the ships large enough to hold them all, stealthily or otherwise, and figure out its workings. The Republic and the Jedi had recorded the Yuuzhan Vong and their communication creatures whenever possible, sending the recordings to hundreds of translation droids in the hopes of understanding the language. Though the results were incomplete at best, the Republic now had a basic knowledge of the language, which every Jedi, particularly Obi-Wan and Anakin, had worked hard to learn. They now hoped to use that knowledge somehow to make a ship work and escape.

Night fell, and the Jedi still waited for the perfect moment. Using a small pair of electrobinoculars, Obi-Wan scanned the base using their night function. Finding a good moment, he reached out a feather-light touch through the Force to the others, sending a quick pulse of _Now!_

From four different directions in the surrounding forest dozens of flasks flew nearly invisibly into the buildings and surrounding area, each bursting on contact. Voxyn leapt to their feet all around the base, snarling as they detected Force use – just as the flasks were followed by blast bugs, setting the jelly released by the flasks on fire. Flames sprang up throughout the camp, growing as they fed on jelly and the smaller plant life, and surprising the force of warriors that ran out of the main compound in response to the calls of the guards.

The chaos was soon joined by two lightsabers as Obi-Wan and Anakin sprang from their trees and raced towards each other to face the warriors as a team, throwing thud and razor bugs and using the Force to hurl boulders so as to make the battlefield as confusing as possible. Ahsoka and Ediir also met up, sneaking around to the rear of the base and engaging the guards posted there.

Obi-Wan ducked as a large rock flew over his head, courtesy of Anakin, and slammed into a nearby warrior. He followed up on Anakin's attack, taking down the warrior and another next to him in what appeared to be a single move, before throwing a rock of his own into a voxyn advancing on Anakin, following the rock up with a thud bug that temporarily stunned the voxyn and allowed Anakin to finish it off. The two quickly separated, running in unpredictable patterns before meeting up again, not allowing themselves to stay in one place for more than a few attacks. Together they carved a path through the Yuuzhan Vong forces, as Ahsoka and Ediir did the same to a smaller group of warriors and voxyn on the other side of the base. Each Jedi was careful not to let more than one warrior or voxyn approach them at a time – the skills of their opponents and the exhaustion of the Jedi meant that they couldn't afford to face too many enemies at once.

Ahsoka and Ediir, finishing off the group of half a dozen warriors that had been guarding the rear of the base, crept stealthily around to where they could see the other Jedi, throwing carefully aimed firejelly, blast bugs, and thud bugs into the warriors, allowing Obi-Wan and Anakin to finish off the warriors that survived the assault of the two less experienced Jedi. Obi-Wan and Anakin continued to fight, carefully herding the warriors towards a small section of the base where Obi-Wan had used his most delicate command of the Force to set Anakin's trap.

The Jedi fought on, collecting minor wounds as they began turning the tide against the Yuuzhan Vong.

* * *

Silver, sitting in the pilot's seat, carefully guided the stealth ship towards the planet. The instruments clearly showed where the Republic's battle against the Yuuzhan Vong had taken place, as well as an area where there seemed to be another one now. Silver approached on that side of the planet, taking care to keep all the functions not necessary for stealth, life support or power at a minimum. He could feel the tension of his brothers behind him, aware of the risk of they were detected by the base.

Abruptly Silver's instruments registered an anomaly, an instant before a group of Yuuzhan Vong ships appeared out of hyperspace. Allowing a quick Mandalorian curse to cross his lips, Silver cut power to everything except stealth systems, allowing the ship to float through space and hoping desperately that they wouldn't be spotted.

* * *

The warrior stood at the helm of the ship, contemplating the planet below. The commander of the base had grudgingly requested reinforcements several hours before to deal with a group of the enemy _Jeedai _warriors loose on the planet. Warmaster Tsavong Lah had sent him, Zhat Kaan, to reinforce the base and capture the Jedi, whom the Yuuzhan Vong were eager to study.

Kaan was a commander, a crèche-mate of Supreme Commander Matik Kaan. He had proved himself in numerous battles, even taking down a Jedi on his own – a great honour. He now answered directly to, and occasionally advised, the warmaster. He was also in competition with Matik Kaan, and hoped to ascend to the other's position as soon as possible.

Capturing at least one of the _Jeedai_ would go a long way to accomplishing that, as the Yuuzhan Vong still did not understand the powerful warriors despite their numerous informants in the Republic – willing or otherwise.

Out of the corner of his eye, Kaan saw one of his crewmembers flare his nostrils slightly in confusion. He turned towards the crewmember.

"Report."

"The dovin basals have picked up a slight anomaly, Commander, but are confused as to what it is. It does not seem to match anything they have so far detected.

Indeed? "Where is it?"

Kaan looked to the point that the crewmember indicated, his sharp gaze seeing nothing out of the ordinary. His face took on a calculating expression – far different than the equivalent on a human face – as he considered the same spot.

He turned to the communications officers, whose villips used to contact the other ships under his command. "Order all of our ships to fire on that spot on my mark."

The crewmembers relayed his order, too well-disciplined to question the order, as he turned back to gaze once more at the strange spot in space – a spot that suddenly revealed itself as a patch of darkness against the distant stars.

"Fire."

* * *

Silver saw the weapons of the Vong ships turning to point their way and cursed, throwing switches to direct power towards the engines and disengage some of the stealth systems. He knew that the enemy could now see his ship as a dark spot, but viewed escape to now be a far greater priority than keeping complete stealth – which didn't seem to have worked anyway.

He threw the ship into a quick roll as the Yuuzhan Vong fleet began to fire. Abandoning all pretense of stealth, he threw all power to the engines, racing the barrage of plasma to the surface of the planet.

* * *

Obi-Wan was aware of flashes of light far above them in the night sky, but he could not afford to divert any of his focus to determine the cause. All of his concentration lay in defending Anakin as the latter pulled off strings of his signature reckless moves, while avoiding taking damage himself. He was aware of Ediir and Ahsoka fighting in the background, following their instructions by avoiding the main group of warriors and voxyn as much as possible.

A few minutes later, a streak of hot matter flew a few hundred metres over their heads to crash about a kilometre away. Far more concerning, though, was the group of Yuuzhan Vong ships that appeared at about the same time and settled down in the landing field, one of the few areas left mostly untouched by the Jedi's attacks. Warriors streamed from the ships, turning the tide once more against the Jedi as the fresh fighters joined the fray.

Obi-Wan reached into the Force, directing Ahsoka and Ediir to retreat to the forest before they drew the attention of the new group of warriors, who were racing to engage Obi-Wan and Anakin. The two Jedi began to retreat, backing towards the forest under the sudden and relentless onslaught. Around them fires burned, filling the air with smoke and bright light, and catching on the underbrush of the forest – though the larger trees seemed thankfully to be highly resistant to the flames.

Among the group of warriors were a dozen that seemed to be especially experienced. Working with skillful strategy under the direction of their leader, a Yuuzhan Vong in striking silver-green Vonduun crab armour, they kept up a merciless onslaught against the two Jedi, assisted by the other warriors who finally had direction rather than the simple battle-rage that had driven them before, which the Jedi had sought to take advantage of.

Obi-Wan sought to stick with Anakin, moving constantly to avoid being targeted too heavily, but under the directions of the unknown Vong the warriors somehow managed to separate them. He felt himself being driven away from Anakin through the woods, and felt a sudden surge of concern, as Anakin's reckless fighting style, with its lack of a defensive component, would have difficulty protecting him against such skillful assailants. His concerns were quickly driven out of his mind, however, as the onslaught redoubled, driving him further and further away from the clearing.

Staggering with renewed exhaustion and the pain of a dozen smaller wounds on top of the wounds sustained in earlier battles, Obi-Wan felt the warriors back off just as another warrior stepped forward. Obi-Wan brought his lightsaber up in a flourish, focusing on the individual who showed an unusual grasp of tactics in fights against Jedi.

The unknown warrior offered him an aggressive smile as he brandished his amphistaff. "Greetings, _Jeedai_," he spoke in Basic far better than that of any warrior Obi-Wan had encountered so far. "I am Zhat Kaan, commander of the Yuuzhan Vong."

"Obi-Wan Kenobi," Obi-Wan replied. The warrior's smile broadened.

"A great honour to face such an esteemed _Jeedai_ general," the warrior replied, surprising Obi-Wan with his apparent prior knowledge of Obi-Wan's identity – though come to think of it, Obi-Wan was well-known enough that he perhaps should not be surprised.

The warrior lunged following his words, accompanied by several other of the more experienced Vong warriors, who Obi-Wan guessed were Kaan's personal forces. He found himself lunging and fighting desperately, his advanced knowledge of the defensive capabilities of Soresu the only reason he survived more than a few moments. Kaan and the warriors scored several hits, earning grunts from Obi-Wan, who refused to allow this to slow him down. The warriors, Obi-Wan could tell, were impressed, but it was only a matter of time before he fell…the warriors were simply too skilled, and Obi-wan too exhausted.

He fought on, fighting exhaustion and hoping that the others were in better situations than him.

* * *

Silver pulled himself out of the wreckage of his ship, grunting slightly, and turned to offer a hand to another brother.

Thanks to admirable safety restraints and the Kaminoans harsh training in how to survive crashes, all of his brothers had survived with only minor wounds. Now, though, they had to get away from the wreckage before the Yuuzhan Vong arrived.

Everyone out of the ship, they did a quick check of their weaponry and supplies before trekking off quickly into the woods in the direction of the battle and fires they had glimpsed during the crash.

Zed and Scree were also convinced that they had seen several lightsabers in the battle, proving that at least a couple of the Jedi were still alive. Now Silver and his brothers just had to keep them that way.

Moving quickly through the forest, the group quickly came upon the edge of the clearing. Hearing a noise in the underbrush nearby, four of his brothers trained their blasters at the bushes while the others covered every other direction, but they quickly relaxed their aim when General Ediir Kam and Commander Ahsoka Tano appeared through the brush.

"Commander! General!" Ace acknowledged them in relief. "Where are the other two generals?"

"Somewhere else in the forest near the clearing," Ediir replied. "The Vong separated us."

Silver trained his gaze across the clearing to the forest on the opposite side, looking past the remaining warriors to see the faintest hint of a lightsaber through the trees. "There!" he hissed, and the group started to make its way through the forest around the clearing towards the fight, taking care not to be spotted by the visible warriors.

Soon they could hear the hum of the lightsaber, and a few moments later Master Kenobi, looking exhausted and wounded as he was beset by over a dozen warriors. Taking their positions quickly, the clone soldiers fired on the warriors while Ediir and Ahsoka leapt to attack, eliminating all the warriors in the space of a few minutes. Obi-Wan deactivated his lightsaber, swaying on his feet in an exhausted manner.

"Where's Master Skywalker?" Ahsoka asked quickly. Obi-Wan shrugged wearily.

"They separated us." Obi-Wan turned to regard the woods nearby, reaching out through the Force as he did so while idly rubbing a shallow slashing wound across one shoulder. "The commander of the Yuuzhan Vong was here as well. He said his name was Zhat Kaan. He left abruptly a few minutes ago, along with several warriors."

Searching the Force-bond she had with her Master as Obi-Wan spoke, Ahsoka gasped in horror. "Master Kenobi, my bond with Master Skywalker has dimmed! I think he's unconscious!"

Her heart sank as Obi-Wan nodded wearily, his expression as worried as she felt.

**So like I said, sorry about the late update! I hope you enjoyed the chapter though…much more action-oriented than normal. **


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